Me with Neptune
Against all odds, my famosity has extended beyond the run-of-the-mill 15 minute variety. I dare say I have achieved a full 30 minutes! This is great because as Capybara Ambassador it is my job to let people know about us capybaras, including how cute and how smart we are. I am being super successful at that, not that I like to brag. I had a whole bunch of articles written about me this month, too many to put links to all of them so these are just some highlights. The photo of me with Neptune was one of the most popular photos used. I can understand why because we sure look cute together.
The LA Times
Planeta Bizzaro (in Brazil)
The Telegraph (in the UK)
EToday (in Russian!)
PEOPLEPets and msnbc.com
HLN.BE (Belgium)
I did a video segment for KENS5 in San Antonio, Texas
Here’s an article on Hobby.cz about me in Czech!
Here is an article about me in Pets Best Newsroom. Question is, why did they use a photo of some other capybara? That is not me.
I even got a dumb reference from the comedian, Dave Barry. Not sure I like those comments.
And wow! Look, here’s an article about me in Thai!
There were more, including one in a newspaper in Hong Kong that I couldn’t get a link to. So you can see that I am Capybara Ambassador Extraordinaire!
I want to thank Linda Lombardi of the Associated Press. She started this whole thing rolling with her article about me. Thanks Linda!
Wild capybaras with caiman (photo by Coral Waters)
I think humans are romantics. They have dreamy visions of the world. Fantasies based only loosely on reality. I think this because so many people comment that I would be better off in the wild. If I could actually speak human, I would tell them that they would be better off in the wild.
I’m not saying that all capybaras should be pets. In some ways I do envy my wild cousins. I’d like to be free to travel far and wide. To swim the languorous Amazon. To graze grassy meadows stretching as far as the eye can see. To lie with a band of my family and friends under the scant shade of bushes in the heat of the day. It sure sounds great.
But see that photo at the top of this post? That is a young caiman with a couple of adult capys. Caiman are like alligators. That one is too small to hurt those capys and they all know it. But it could catch a baby capybara and eat it. Or it’s larger friends could even threaten those adult capys.
And caiman aren’t the only dangers that lurk in the water.
Continue reading “The Wild Life” »
Blancanieves exploring with her brother
Some of you may recall my post about a baby white capybara born on Christmas day. I said she was born in Bolivia but that was not true. She was actually born at M’Bopicuá Breeding Station in Uruguay. Her caretaker, Juan Villalba-Macias, wrote me and explained my mistake. He also told me she is doing great and he sent some photos of her for me to share with my readers (after the break).
Continue reading “Update on Blancanieves” »
Owner’s blog:
Morning capybara!
Morning comes early at my house. Weekends or weekdays, a certain capybara named Caplin Rous wants his morning yogurt. He has various ways of making this known. The most subtle wake up is one where he sits on the floor or lies on the bed and eeps periodically. Eeping is that I call the soft, high-pitched noise he makes when he wants something. Guinea pigs call this a wheek. It sounds something like a one-note bird call. To wake me he’ll eep quietly, wait thirty seconds or so and eep again just loudly enough to keep me awake. As far as I know, he can keep it up forever.
Another wake-up tactic is to tap me on the face. This is not subtle at all. He comes out from under the covers, climbs onto my pillow with his face directly above mine and not-so-gently taps me on the nose or the cheek or even on the eye or mouth with his large, heavy paw. Sometimes I try to hide under the pillow but this is no good since his 100 lb weight it holding it down.
Might as well get up.
Continue reading “Life With a Capybara” »
Me with Carpincho
The photo above shows me with my little stuffed capybara friend Carpincho. Carpincho means capybara in Spanish. That’s kind-of funny because Carpincho was born in England and now lives in Russia! He’s a world citizen capybara.
Carpincho lives with my friend Lina in Moscow. The two of them made this excellent slide show of their winter holiday and I just had to show it to all my fans. I hope you enjoy it. If you do, I’m sure Lina would love to read comments from you, so please post your impressions.
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