You probably wouldn’t expect too much of a hamster. These tiny furry balls, regardless of how cute they are, aren’t exactly the first thing that comes to your mind when thinking of a superior IQ in the animal kingdom. But it turns out, hamsters are not only super-intelligent, but they also make some of the best escape artists out there.

These viral videos from the YouTube channel “Mister Hamster” that feature a cute little hamster running through a set of insane obstacles are proof of it. In a series of prison breaks and mazes, the tiny dude makes his way through intricate barriers only to realize there are more and more of them around the corner.

The ultimate run is not just for nothing—there’s a glorious prize of stacks upon stacks of nuts waiting for him out there. People are totally in for this hamster maze fun with a whopping 55.5M views counting for part 1 and 2.7M views for part 2, which was posted just a week ago.

More info: Youtube (Mister Hamster)

This prison break video of a tiny hamster has earned the hearts of 55.5 million viewers

Contrary to what many people believe, hamsters are very complex animals that have a lot in common with… us. In fact, a research study has shown that these tiny rodents have mood swings too.

Remember the last time your pet hamster attempted to bite off your finger? The reason for such a burst of aggression may have been a bad mood. (Not yours, but his.)

Turns out, this is the precise reason why hamsters don’t make very good models for scientific research (which has nothing to do with the assumption that somehow hamsters are less smart than rats!). If they’re stressed in a science lab, the experiment is likely to go faulty.

And here’s part 2 of the widely popular hamster prison break which feels like a proper action movie

Neuroscientist Rafal Rygula from the Polish Academy of Sciences told USA Today that “Knowing that hamsters have emotions, and that a small, unenriched cage could make them unhappy and even pessimistic, will for sure make people think twice before deciding on the size and equipment of homes for their little friends.”

In fact, the hamsters who were in a better mood also exhibited much more optimistic behavior in an experiment. The point is a rather straightforward one—the richer and the more engaging a hamster’s cage is, the happier they are.

So imagine the ride of a lifetime such an obstacle course could give to a tiny rodent which otherwise is most commonly kept all alone in small and uninspiring cages.

Here are all the crazy obstacles the hamster had to run through

Image credits: Mister Hamster

And finally… the hard work paid off for this pro escape artist

For those who enjoyed these escape videos, check out this other video of the hamster nailing yet another set of traps

And people seemed to love it

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