Cambridge resident hopes to find the owner of a stray honey-colored hamster found last Thursday night near the Radciffe Quad.

"Someone is suffering needlessly," said the resident, who says she found the hamster while she was taking a walk. "And if it's a Harvard student's hamster, all they need to do is call and they can have the hamster back," she added.

The hamster, which so far has not shown signs of responding to a particular name, has "big brown eyes" and is noticeably over-weight, according to its finder, who asked that her name not be printed.

Harvard police officials said last night that they had taken a report about the homeless hamster, but that they had not yet had any calls claiming, the animal.

"It's in great health, and I think that the hamster couldn't have been outside for more than an hour," said the resident, who is an employee of Harvard.

The animal was picked up at the corner of Raymond and Linnaean streets, she said.

"When I first saw it, I though the hamster was a leaf. Then it started running into the street," she said.

The Cambridge resident, who says she has been housing the hamster in a large "salad shooter," urges the hamster's rightful owner to reclaim the animal by calling 496-3790 weekdays before 12:30 p.m.

According to Harvard College policy, Harvard students living on campus may not own live-in pets.

The Handbook for Students reads: "No student may keep an animal, bird, or reptile in a building owned or leased by the College."