An Afternoon With Friends

The new me

Yo! It’s me again, Mudskipper Rous. I haven’t written in awhile so we have some things to catch up on. Let’s get the big one out of the way right off the bat.

I’m a girl!

I know! It came as a surprise to me, too. MelT says I was always a girl but nobody knew it. I haven’t seen another capy since I was a baby so I’m not too sure about this whole boy/girl thing, but is it really something you don’t notice?

If you look at the photo above, you can see I’m really getting into my new role. I look pretty seductive don’t I? I mean, to other capybaras.

Size Matters

Me and Francine

This is me with my friend Francine. See how big I am? I am eight months old and I just broke 60 lbs! I know a girl isn’t supposed to brag about weighing a lot, but I don’t think that applies to capybara girls. Anyway, I am now officially half grown since MelT says I will be about 120 lbs when I am an adult capy.

The New Fence

Fence and signs

This is what my new fence looks like. It is semi-transparent. You can see through it. I can watch the whole world from here. I can’t actually go to the whole world because, even though it’s transparent, the new fence is really high and strong. I think MelT did that on purpose.

I can see the horses from here!

Did you notice all the signs? Those are going to be on the fence. I don’t like the Please Keep Gate Closed one, but the others are okay. MelT even put up the Welcome sign. Before this no one was welcome at our house.

The next sign is a really neat one that was given to me (actually Garibaldi Rous but I inherited it) from Elizabeth and Marvin. They own two capys named Romeo and Tuff’n. I think they must be more ferocious than I am. I don’t even have red eyes.

The last sign is just a little capybara minding its own business. It’s chill, just like me.

All of those signs are going up just as soon as MelT stops being so darned lazy.

A Friendly Afternoon

On to the gist of my post, the afternoon I spent in the yard with my friends.

My horse friends

If you look hard enough, you should be able to see three horses in this photo. Their names are (from left to right) Phoenix, Chesapeake, and Buzz. This is about as close as we ever get. I still consider them my friends though.

Yellow Chicken

This is my chicken friend. She doesn’t seem to have a real name. MelT promises us that she will have some baby chicken friends in the spring. I think we’d all like that.

One of many squirrels

This squirrel reminds me of MelT because it is so lazy. Driftwood loves watching squirrels even though they yell at him a lot.

Driftwood

I think Driftwood is watching a squirrel in this photo. He gets such an intense look on his face. I’m not sure the squirrels consider him a friend.

Leopard frog

There are a bunch of frogs in my pond! Most of them are leopard frogs, like this one. There are some tiny frogs too that MelT says are treefrogs. We are always playing hide and seek together but they are very good hiders.

Cassiopeia

You’ve probably seen Cassio in photos before, but have you ever seen her TWICE like in this shot? Sometimes the tortoises go swimming but not while I’m in with them. I think they are afraid of the wake I make. Or maybe that I’ll come up underneath them, which would be fun.

In the pond

Of course, I spend much of my time in the pond these days. Some of the water plants are good eating. The pond is big enough for me to get a good swim in. Someday I may try the big pool…or maybe not.

The pond monster

MelT says this is a photo of the monster that lives in the pond. She says its name is Nessie. Like all good monsters, you can tell it’s real because you can’t see it.

What’s that?

Wait a minute! What is that thing? Is it a rock? Why does it show up from a distance but not close up? Maybe it’s a mirage? Does it look dangerous? Aren’t ALL monsters dangerous?

Something touched my toe!

Look, I’m as brave as the next capybara (or maybe not), but I’m not letting that thing bite off my toes! I like my toes. All of them.

Lean on me

Sometimes you need a friend to comfort you. Thanks, Driftwood.