Living with a giant rat

Definitely a WTF?



http://www.jeffvandermeer.com/2009/06/24/the-fantastical-capybara-an-interview-with-typaldos-about-caplin-rous/

Capybaras are awesome. So are tree kangaroos, coatimundis, and aardvarks, but I don't think any of those are possible to keep as pets. In a different life I think I was a zoo keeper or something.

Skunks are actually possible to keep as pets as well. As with most exotic pets they are very needy and require a lot of patience on the part of the owner (skunks are absolutely fearless, so they get into everything).

That was an interesting article. For whatever reason, their behaviour in the videos reminds me of a pig crossed with a rabbit.

I actually know someone who is planning on getting a capybara and my kids sponsored one at Edinburgh zoo.

david_a said:

Capybaras are awesome. So are tree kangaroos, coatimundis, and aardvarks, but I don't think any of those are possible to keep as pets. In a different life I think I was a zoo keeper or something.

Skunks are actually possible to keep as pets as well. As with most exotic pets they are very needy and require a lot of patience on the part of the owner (skunks are absolutely fearless, so they get into everything).

I think I'm going to add capybaras on my list of "exotic pets I'd like to own" along with skunks, raccoons, and red pandas. Pigs are also kind of on that list, but aren't really exotic (just unusual to keep as pets).

That's a carpincho.

Not sure how well these should fare in places like Scotland, since they're adapted to tropical and subtropical environments. We have them here, particularly in the north.

Snarboo said:
For whatever reason, their behaviour in the videos reminds me of a pig crossed with a rabbit.

It's sometimes called "water pig" or "river pig" in Spanish.

Well that animal is certainly a lot more attractive than some of the awful little dogs I see people walking around.

Bank said:

Well that animal is certainly a lot more attractive than some of the awful little dogs I see people walking around.

Tru dat. Too bad you can't kick the shit out of the little fuckers when they bark for like 3 hours and try to nip your feet...

myk said:

Not sure how well these should fare in places like Scotland...

Quite well apparently. They are in a number of zoos and animal parks and there is at least one "wild" colony of escaped animals (in South West Scotland).

Heh - living with a hairy fish. :-)

Found on the interwebs

Some people in South America eat capybara regularly because of the church's directive to eat fish on Friday (originally to help provide fishermen with a market for their produce). Due to a twist of theological reasoning, the capybara is a fish, according to the Catholic Church. According to the entry for Capybara on Wikipedia, European missionaries first met capybaras in South America in the 16th century. They wrote to the Catholic Church in Rome to ask if they could classify the capybara as a fish because it "is scaly but also hairy, and spends time in the water but occasionally comes on land." At that time, the Catholic faith did not allow the eating of meat (other than fish) during Lent, the period of abstinence lasting 40 days before Easter. Having a second-hand description of the animal, and not wanting the petitioners to turn away from Catholicism, The Church agreed, as they had not seen the animal directly and wanted the missionaries and their Indian converts (who ate capybara) to remain within the Church, and therefore declared the capybara a fish. The decision was never reversed.

GreyGhost said:

wanted the missionaries and their Indian converts (who ate capybara) to remain within the Church

Heh, that does sound like a lot of decisions made by the Catholic church over the years. ie change the rules (to adapt to local customs and festivals etc) to not upset people and thereby keep as many people as possible in the church.