What Is A Capybara?

[Melita Magic]

I don't know, either.

I was reading this

cute and fuzzy story about a mystery animal I never heard of

and thought I would share it.

I also thought it would be fun to have a 'random' thread for whatever you want to post about. Funny, silly, thoughtful, serious, just so long as it's something that made you recently go, "Huh?"

It just has to be something unexpected or random or new to you. Or that might be to us.

Who's with me? :)

[Janelle Darkstone]

A Capybara (Hippotamusus Bucktoothus Moosus SansAntlerus)  is a large rodentlike creature often described as a cross between a hippopotamus, beaver and an antlerless moose.  Its range is generally anywhere in central South America and parts of Florida and southern Texas when it stows away on unwary cruise ships and migrates north for the winter.

The capybara has a heavy, barrel-shaped body and short head and has been known to reach ground speeds of up to thirty-five miles per hour when running for a docked cruise ship.

Capybaras are herbivores except when they get really, really hungry.

Although illegal in many states, capybaras are sometimes kept as pets although it is generally accepted that a capybara should never be given water, and never fed after midnight.  ( See: were-capybara )

( Rare antlered specimen grazing in parsley field. )

( Common sabre-toothed capybara eyeing a Carnival cruise ship approaching offshore. )

[Charolotte Caxton]

[Melita Magic]

LOL! Oh my gosh. Those are some faces only a...mother capybara or tarsier could love.

Capybara have antlers too! It just gets better and better. 

And I had thought the duck billed platypus was nature's oddest creation.

[Bree Giffen]

I always mistake that capybara with a chupacabra.

[Maryanne Solo]

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Janelle Darkstone wrote:

A Capybara (

Hippotamusus Bucktoothus Moosus SansAntlerus

) 

Thufferinthukotash me don't believe that and Im not even going to google it lol.

Your text is as good as your cartoons Janelle

[Tari Landar]

Random...but made me chuckle anyway...

I had surgery last week and have been in some pretty nasty pain ever since. My kiddos were with my mom until Saturday when they came home. I must mention now that I have really awesome kiddos. Today was a particularly not fun day. Pain, nausea and the fact that I had to actually leave the house to go somewhere...yeah, not pleasant. I sat down this evening to attempt to get some work done and sort out their lessons for the rest of the week . Although I didn't think my frustration and pain was showing that much, it apparently was. My son came over to me, to show me what he was working on building with his legos...it was a glow worm with a light on its butt..and said this to me...

"I wish I were a glow worm, a glow worm's never glum. 'Cuz how can you be grumpy when the sun shines out your bum"

That's something I taught them when they were really little, it always made them laugh. But I haven't heard it in a really long time. Of course they're still young enough that for the rest of the evening the word bum became the funniest word in the English language.

[Ted McGregor]

[Tiffy Vella]

The capybara is a fish. A yummy yummy little fish. Every good Catholic knows that!  ;D

[Madelaine McMasters]

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Maryanne Solo wrote:

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Janelle Darkstone wrote:

A Capybara (

Hippotamusus Bucktoothus Moosus SansAntlerus

) 

Thufferinthukotash me don't believe that and Im not even going to google it lol.

Your text is as good as your cartoons Janelle

---

Ye of little faith.

Janelle is absolutely correct. Within the same genus, there is a related and complimentary species called the YogiBerra (Deja-vu'us Repiticus). While not as vicious as the predatory capybara, the Yogi is a cunning scavenger. The capybara's clearly predatory look and demeanor makes it easy to spot for prey, and so it must depend on sheer speed and maneuverability to make a kill. A capybara sprinting at full speed moves its legs so fast that you can't see them, but their hum is unmistakable.

The Yogi's chameleon-like abilities allow it to masquerade as a tourist, boarding Carnival cruise liners undetected. Once aboard, the Yogi wreaks havoc with ships engines and generators, causing passengers to panic. It then seizes the opportunity to sate it's revenous appetite on all the spoiled foodstuffs left behind in the ship's galley. The Yogi's life cycle encapsulates the phases that delineate separate subspecies of capybara. A young male Yogi will grow a set of antlers which, later in life, fall off as the adult tusks come in.

Here is an adolescent YogiBerra...

And a wiley adult...

Ain't nature grand?

[Celestiall Nightfire]

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Melita Magic wrote:

I don't know, either.

I was reading this

cute and fuzzy story about a mystery animal I never heard of

and thought I would share it.

I also thought it would be fun to have a 'random' thread for whatever you want to post about. Funny, silly, thoughtful, serious, just so long as it's something that made you recently go, "Huh?"

It just has to be something unexpected or random or new to you. Or that might be to us.

Who's with me?

---

They're giant guinea pigs.  My youngest son, has wanted capybara for a pet, ever since he first read about them. (that's how I learned about them, from my son)   Only, I've had to explain that capybara's live in a much warmer climate, and wouldn't do well here.  He counters with the fact that some people keep them as house pets.  

Now, I'm going to show him the link you posted.  He'll love it.  : )

[Janelle Darkstone]

A capybara's only natural predator is the Peruvian Fanged Llama ( Peruvius Llamaus Toothus Vampyrus ) shown below:

Peruvian Fanged Llamas are solitary hunters, deceiving their prey by making a sound like a distant ship's horn mixed with faint salsa party music and approaching from the rear while the capybara pack's attention is focused elsewhere.

The Peruvian Fanged Llama's only natural predator is the chupacabra.