San Antonio Zoo Capybaras

Capybara encounter at San Antonio Zoo

Do you remember when I adopted a capybara at the San Antonio Zoo? Well, my owner finally got a chance to use the two free tickets and go down to meet my adopted cousins. The zoo people told us there were four capys but my owner (who was with my Russian stalker, aka Rezoner, aka Alex) only saw two.

According to the zoo people, the capys don’t have names. They don’t want to encourage people to think of zoo animals as potential pets. Well, that’s a fine how-do-you-do! And every animal deserves a name. I was thinking of Meg for the female (on the right) and Ryan for the male (on the left). Or maybe Betty and Lou.  Or Carly and Simon. But I just can’t decide. Post a comment if you have any ideas.

My owner and Rezoner picked a great day to go to the zoo. It was a Friday when most people are at work or school. And it rained buckets in the morning, discouraging even more people. My owner said they announced the total zoo attendance at the end of the day and it was only 358 people! So it was practically like having the zoo to themselves.

San Antonio Zoo Capybara Enclosure

As you can tell from the photo above, the capybaras have a really nice enclosure. You can see Betty here in the front, chomping on some greens while Lou hangs out way down at the end of the pond. They even have some birds that could (theoretically) land on their backs.

Female Capybara. Carley?

They two capys are incredibly cute and you can get right to eye-level with them without a glass or anything in between, which is not true at many zoos. It’s too bad they don’t have any actual grass to graze on. That is one of my favorite activities and it is quite different from eating food that has been picked and deposited for you. But you can’t have everything.

I don’t know why, but my owner wanted me to include photos of some of the other zoo animals. This next one is one I can appreciate.

Rock Squirrel at San Antonio Zoo

It is a zoo animal in that it lives in a zoo. But it is not confined to a cage. This is a cute little rock squirrel. We don’t have them at my house, possibly because we don’t have any rocks, but they are native to Texas.

Boat-tailed Grackle

Rezoner was fascinated by these birds even the next day when we saw them at lunch. They are some of the most common birds in this area. We don’t have many of them at my house because they prefer the city. I wonder if one would sit on my back? Their South American relatives do, I think.

My owner said I do not have to be afraid of the gharial in the next photo.

Gharial or gavial at San Antonio Zoo

Owner says they can only eat fish with that long, narrow snout. Still, they remind me of crocodiles and that is not good.

Rezoner apparently has a way with birds. This pied dove landed on him and wouldn’t get off until he shook it really hard.

Rezoner with an Australian Pied Dove

Why doesn’t that happen to me?

Well, that’s about it. But it is my opinion that every blog post should end with a photo of a capybara. Here are Ryan & Meg saying goodbye at the end of the day.

San Antonio Zoo Capybaras