We investigated the occurrence of colour variations in the common hamster Cricetus cricetus (Linnaeus, 1758) between 1915 and 1980 in the north-eastern foot-hills of the Harz Mountains in Saxony-Anhalt. Material was collected by a professional hamster trapper. The most frequent colour variants were white hamsters followed by piebald and yellow animals. The occurrence of colour morphs was strongly male biased. Only one black hamster, probably an atypical melanistic form, was found in the entire sample of 73 657 hamsters. Overall the percentage of variant individuals was 0.0855%. The frequency decreased significantly over the observed period. Investigations during the 1990s in a neighbouring area showed no colour variation in a smaller sample set. A possible connection between the decline in hamster numbers during this period in the study area and the reduced frequency of colour morphs is discussed.
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