ZOOL()(;iCAI. SOCIKT^' lU'LLKTIN 



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THK CAl'VBAKAS. 



THI', CAP^BAKAS 



/~\F :ill living rodents, the capybara is the queer- 

 ^-^ est, and the most unlike a gnawing animal. 

 It is as large as a half-grown hog; it is shaped and 

 clad like a hog, and its food habits also are very 

 swinish. Instead of being ])roperly clothed with 

 hair, it is covered with a thatch of course, gray 

 bristles that grow in "blocks of five" an eighth of 

 an inch apart. There is no tail, but if there is as 

 much in evolution as some people claim for it, life 

 in the lly-hclt nf the North should presently develop 

 one. 



The capybara is the largest of all living rodents. 

 In weight it is about twice the size of a beaver. 

 Its home is the reedy banks of the sluggish tropical 

 rivers of South .\merica, where they flow through 

 the level forests near the coast. The delta of the 

 Orinoco is well stocked with this species, and its 

 flesh is a most welcome addition to the scanty bill 

 of fare of the few \'enezuelans who dwell in that 

 region. About ten miles below Sacupana they 

 were (in 1876) very numerous. Two or three 

 small, wiry dogs are put ashore to run along the 



Ijank and drive the animals into the water, to 

 which they always tlee for refuge. The capybara 

 dives well, and at first can swim under water fully 

 two hundred feet. The capybara hunter chases 

 the animal in a canoe, and w-henever it rises to 

 breathe immediately forces it to dive again. Pres- 

 ently the animal becomes so e.xhausted it can dive 

 no longer, and is finally .speared and captured. 



The capybara feeds wholly upon vegetable foods, 

 and once fairly started is not at all difficult to keep 

 in captivity. The swine-like appearance of the 

 animal is also reflected in its temper and disposition. 

 The two fine specimens in the Small-Mammal 

 House are not only tame, but even affectionate, 

 and fond of being ])ctted. While .seeking attention, 

 or lieing handled, they utter a queer, clicking sound, 

 indicative of good-will. Their outside cage is 

 supplied with a tank of water in which they bathe 

 f rccjuently. The largest specimen is si.xteen inches in 

 height at the shoulders, twenty-eight inches in girth, 

 twenty-nine inches long, from end of nose to where 

 a tail might be, and weighs about seventy pounds. 



