September « 2009 « Capybara Madness

Wild Capybaras in Florida!

Wow! Today has been such a big day for capybara news! First this article about capybaras in England. Then my brother Dobby appears on CuteOverload and now someone gave me this link to this article about wild capybaras in Florida. Well, we are really newsworthy animals and at least it provides a bright spot in otherwise extremely dull human-related stuff.

Little Brother Dobby on Cute Overload

Well, looks like my little brother Dobby is going for the World’s Second Most Famous Capybara award. In case you are wondering, which you should NOT be, I have the World’s Most Famous Capybara award securely in my court. Dobby was on CuteOverload today and I have to admit, he is just about too cute to believe in the photo that they posted of him in the bathtub. You have to go check it out.

Oh Dobster! I am soooo proud of you!

Wild Capybara Spotted in England

Hey all my British fans, check this out! A wild capybara was spotted in Totteridge by “Hollywood actor David Dayan Fisher.” He saw the capybara while walking in fields near Darlands Lake on September 20. Here’s the link for a full report.

So you Brits, no more excuses! You too can go out and see a capybara in the wild. And I want photos!

Kitty Sneezes: A Feline Interview

Okay, the heading of this post might be a little misleading. I am not interviewing a feline (aka cat), a feline interviewed me. His name is Mickey Smitherson and he is a very gorgeous animal. (Is it okay to call a male cat gorgeous? I really don’t think handsome has the impact I’m looking for.)

Mickey and I had a great interview that you can read here. Since he is a cat, we naturally ended up covering some topics that humans never touch upon. At the same time, Mickey has some rodent-related issues which I think he is going to have to work through. One of those issues is capybara-envy. After I told him I was Rodent Royalty–which I totally am and it’s not like something I made up–he crowned himself King Kitty! Well, I guess we all know what egos cats have, it’s not like Mickey is any kind of exception in that area. I think he’ll find that being King Kitty is like herding cats! Good luck with that, Mickey!

Capybaras at York’s Wild Kingdom in Maine

Capy naps at York's Wild Kingdom

My good friend and FaceBook follower Lauren Thompson recently visited York’s Wild Kingdom in York, Maine. She got some great photos of my relatives and agreed to share them here with my readers. If you’re in the York area, this zoo / amusement park looks like it has a very nice capybara set up. Drop in and visit. Let them know that Caplin Rous and Lauren Thompson sent you! Maybe they’ll give you a discount .(Disclaimer: I have no reason to believe they will.)

One of the great things about the park is this large sign advertising the large size of the world’s largest rodent! I am certainly not as big as the capybara on that sign, but my cousin Little might be!

2009_09_09_sLaurenThompson_YorksWildKingdom

Lauren Thompson with "Largest Rodent" sign.

For some reason Lauren thought it was funny that this capybara was sitting in his food bowl.

Capybara in food bowl at York's Wild Kingdom

I don’t get what’s so funny. He looks very comfortable. Don’t humans do that?

Young capybara at York's Wild Kingdom

This young capybara looks healthy and happy.

The only thing missing from Lauren’s photos is a nice big pond or pool for the capybaras to swim in. I’m afraid they might not have one and they really should. Capybaras are at our cutest and most active when we are in the water. Seeing us lounge about on land is nice but it doesn’t give you a good sense of the dynamic creatures we can be.