Making My Mark

Sweet innocence

I know what you’re thinking, how could such a sweet little capy face possibly get into any trouble? It’s just not possible! And you’re right! I am the sweetest, nicest, most considerate capybara in the entire world. I never do anything bad at all.

That branch is a little too high

But let’s be reasonable here, I am still a capybara! I have capybara needs and desires! It’s only natural. And one of those desires is to mark my territory just in case another capybara sneaks into the yard while I am not looking. I want him to be able to smell that this is my territory, my home, and if he/she wants to stay, they have to get my permission.

Marking with my morillo

I have two ways to mark my territory. The first is to use the gland on the top of my nose. This is called a morillo. You might have noticed it. On my nose it is just a little dark mound with sparse hair. That’s because I am neutered. On dominant males, the morillo really does turn into a little hill, just like the name implies. Anyway, both male and female capys have morillos and we use them liberally to mark what is ours. The surface of the morillo feels waxy and it is that wax that we transfer to other surfaces to mark them.

Marking with my anal gland

We also have an anal gland that is very, very useful for marking things. In the photo above, I have pushed over a little branch and I am giving it a good dousing with my anal gland.

I love this branch

It is hard to find the perfect branch to mark with my anal gland. It has to be at just the right height and have a certain amount of springiness. Once you find such a branch, you want to make sure it is well marked or another capybara might come by and mark it for him/herself while you aren’t looking.

That should do it

Marking branches is only for outside, there aren’t any branches in the house. In the house I typically mark pillows, shoes or other human clothing left lying around. This has made Melly very neat but, luckily, hasn’t had any effect on My Rick at all.

The finishing touches

Once you’re done marking, the age old question rears its ugly head again–what to do next?

I'm ready!

I decided not to chase Oakley Bunny and instead opted for a walk. The beauty of a walk is that I can spend almost the whole time rubbing my morillo on the leash! Melly holds it for me at just the right height.

Making My Mark

Above is a very short video of me marking my tree. There is a surprise ending so make sure you watch!