Capybara Plush Toys and gifts
These fine Capybara stuffed animals are available at Jeannie's Cottage online gift shop. They are from Wild Republic and are a Cuddlekins Capybara.
Check our sponsor's online Gift Shop to see if there are any Capybara there.
The Capybara, Hydrochoerus, is hardly known outside its native continent of South America, yet it is the largest rodent on earth. A full-grown male capybara may stand 21 inches at the shoulder and measure all of 4 feet in length; he may weigh over one hundred pounds.
You need not let the thought of such a great relative of the rat dismay you. The capybara looks much more like a giant edition of its closer kinsman the guinea pig. Indeed, one of its names is the Giant Water Guinea Pig; others are Chigwire, Warpincho, and Water Hog (an accurate translation of the animal's scientific name).
If you should someday come face to face with a capybara in eastern South America, where it lives, you may safely assume there will be water near by. The animal is at home among the tall grasses that grow along the banks of such rivers as the Orinoco, and we find it as far north as Panama. Grass and water plants are the favorite foods of this inoffensive, peace-loving creature. Having eaten its fill, it likes to lie quietly and bask in the sunshine or on a river bank. When pleased it often produces a low, clicking sound.
The shy capybara would rather run than fight. It must always be on the alert for its deadly enemies, the jaguar and the cougar. At the slightest sign of one of these, the capybara leaps to safety in the water. Though the three toes on its hind feet are only poorly webbed, it is a first-rate swimmer. It can travel long distances below the surface, too. But even in the water it dare not let down its guard, for the stream may be alligator-infested.
Capybara are more or less social creatures and often travel about in troops. Their families are large: four to eight babies are born at a time, about 4 months after mating has occurred. They are well developed and can soon take care of themselves. It can be assumed that they get much pleasure from each other's company, for the family remains together for a very long time unless it is forcibly broken up.
Ten years is an old age for the capybara; few ever reach it. They are too gentle or else they have too many enemies. One of these enemies is man. South American natives hunt the capybara in canoes and kill it when it comes up for air. They eat its flesh and make ornaments of its large teeth. These ornaments are very interesting examples of folk craft.
The capybara is about the size of a pig, it has a broad head, a blunt nose, and eyes that are disproportionately small. Stiff yellowish-brown fur forms a rather sparse covering for its body. The limbs of this oversized guinea pig are short, and it has only a trace of a tail.
image of Capybara at top courtesy of Nova Art Explosion
