POINT LOMA, Calif. -  

A giant hamster wheel appeared on the campus of Point Loma High School Thursday as an elaborate, but less destructive, senior prank.

It arrived before school began, and Point Loma High Principal Bobbie Samilson said, "As soon as I saw it, I was just so amazed at what the kids have done."

Senior Corlin Palmer came up with the idea while pondering this year's senior prank. He was watching his pet rabbit in its much smaller hamster wheel when the idea came to him.

"And I thought, 'We need to build a huge one of those,'" said Palmer.

Palmer rallied 55 seniors and raised $900 to build the wheel. At 16 feet in diameter, it may be the world's largest.

"I thought that the principal or someone would suspend me or at least be angry," said Palmer.

No one was suspended and no one was angry. Samilson actually loved it because it was creative and wasn't as destructive as past senior pranks, which included spray painting the school and wiping Vaseline on arm railings.

The giant hamster wheel also had a serious message.

"You can say it symbolizes the academic rat race," said Palmer.

"And really it's just a big circle. You do that in high school, you do it again in college to get into grad school; it's one big wheel," said fellow senior Ella Adams.