Fame and the Capybara

Survey Results:
Would you read a book about capybaras?

1. Anything! If it's got a capybara it must be good (12 54%).
2. Only if it features the real Caplin Rous and not some substitute. (7 31%)
3. I read Capyboppy. I don't need to read another book about capybaras. (0 0%)
4. Only if the book is edible. (3 13%)
   

22 Votes Total
These are troubling results. I had hoped a larger fraction of my readers would be interested in my owner's book. She lost 31% of you by using Caplynn Rous rather than the real me. And I am not at all sure she can regain the 13% of you who insist that the book be edible.

Me and Neptune during the Animal Planet shoot

Did y'all catch me on Animal Planet last night? I was the lead segment on the show Animal Planet's Most Outrageous Odd Looking Pets. I'll post a link to the video as soon as I can, for now hopefully you can just watch it over and over again on your DVR. I've watched it about 30 times already and I'm not tired of it yet.

Can't say the same for the rest of the show though. Sure the long-haired Peruvian guinea pigs were cute, but not any cuter than my little Neptune who only made a cameo on my segment. They could have replaced those long-hairs with him. Then they could change the name of the show from odd looking to cutest.

What's up with that anyway? Why did they throw me in with those odd-looking animals? I totally did not fit in. The next animal was Elwood, the ugliest dog. OMG! I do not belong on the same show with that animal. The featherless cockatoo, the super-muscled whippet and the gold-toothed cat were all diseased or had genetic deformities of some sort. The littlest dog looked like it was going to shake itself to death and the tallest dog can't reach the ground to eat out of its food bowl.

How do I belong with those animals? I am the picture of health and grace. I can swim like an otter. I am fully furred (or as fully furred as any capybara). My teeth, while large, fit inside my mouth where they belong. I admit I am on the small side for a capybara, but not freakishly so. I feel sorry for those other animals, really I do, but that doesn't mean I want to be lumped in with them. I guess it's the price you pay for fame. Everyone has to pay their dues climbing the ladder to stardom.

Me with KXAN's Jim Swift, On the Porch

Speaking of which, I suppose you have seen my appearance on KXAN? And this week I am also making a guest appearance on Enzoology. Hook your kiddos up with Enzo, he's into science and capybaras and that makes him a cool kid in my book. We have a cute moment at the end of the video where Enzo thinks a popsicle is for him when it's really for me. Silly kid, popsicles are for capybaras.

I didn't want to make it too easy for Enzo and his parents.
They had to scramble to earn their video of me.

Here's me with Enzo.
Don't know why he wouldn't roll in the mud with me.

I may be cutest when I'm muddy.

I let Enzo pet me while I swam.

Next on my voyage to stardom may be a stint on a reality show for The Learning Channel. Not sure about that yet. They say it is about people who are obsessed with their pets. Two things wrong with that. Firstly, it seems to put the emphasis on my owner instead of on me, where it belongs. Secondly, no level of devotion to a capybara could be considered obsessive. We deserve all the attention we get. And more.

(By the way, I do NOT eat 10 lbs of guinea pig food a day. I have no idea where AP got that.)

Bookworm Rodent

Survey Results:
Are capybaras odd-looking?
1) No! The most magical-looking animals ever! (4 10%)
2) No! They are beautiful! (2 5%)
3) No! They are incredibly cute. (23 58%)
4) No! Those people at Animal Planet need to take that back! (2 5%)
5) No! Humans are the odd-looking ones. (8 20%)

39 Votes Total
I suppose I should be happy with these results but I can't help noticing the low number of votes for option 2. Why is that?

My owner is planning an "Caplin Rous on Animal Planet" party for me in Austin during the airing of my the Animal Planet episode with me in it. Drop a line to CaplinRous@gmail.com if you'd like to come.

Me with Jim Swift, literally "On the Porch"

If you follow my blog you know that my owner drags me all over the place. I don't know why she does this since she's always complaining about how slow I am. In fact, capybaras strive to be the largest and SLOWEST rodents. Most of our relations are very fast so I think we probably own that title.

Last Wednesday we had a very unusual outing. For one thing, it was the middle of the week and she didn't go to work. I suppose we both deserved an afternoon off after our shoot with Jim Swift from KXAN. (http://www.kxan.com/dpp/news/local/Exotic_pet_provides_nature_lesson) Another strange thing was that we went north of the river.

For those of you who don't live in Central Texas, you might not know that the city of Austin is divided in half by the Colorado River. (No, not THAT Colorado River. A lesser river by the same name.) My owner and I live way south of the river in an area sometimes known as Bubba-land and other times as Buda. Same difference. Being Bubbas, we seldom venture to the north were the more sophisticated populace resides.

The Count of Monte Cristo. Submitted by D.J. Berson

On this trip, we actually went to the campus of the University of Texas at Austin, a strange place for a little capybara. Did you know people actually walk there? Stranger than that is the event we went to, the Edible Book Festival. Can you imagine? Edible books? Actually not so weird; I eat paper when I can. I've never eaten a book but the only thing stopping me is opportunity.

Love in the Time of Cauliflower. Submitted by Emily Vinson

The festival proved smaller than we had imagined with only seven edible books. One of the people there told us that it is normally held on a weekend when participation is higher. Nevertheless, the entries were interesting and we met a bunch of nice folks. At the festival, everyone pet me and took my photo. I tried to pose as photogenically as possible but the crowd prevented taking best advantage of the light. The edible books were quite creative so my owner and Sheldon--who is always dragged along as a capybara wrangler--had a good time.

On the Road. Submitted by Nicole Davis

We could have been entry eight since someone commented that if you put Sheldon next to me you have the Steinbeck book "Of Mice and Men." Since capybaras are eaten in South America (shudder!), I fulfilled the edible requirement.

The cover of my owner's soon-to-be-available-on-Amazon book.
It features a capybara named Caplynn Rous.

My owner wants to make a real entry next year, hopefully of the book she (sort-of) wrote about me. I don't know how she'll convert that to something edible though. And I am NOT going to be part of the entry.