Capybara in the classroom

Survey Results:
Should animals have to earn their treats?
What are you complaining about?

1. She's not asking for anything that hard. (16 37%)
2. I thought animals celebrate Halloween every day. (2 4%)
3. If I could get my dog/cat/hamster to do that, you bet I would! (4 9%)
4. It's humiliating what she does to you. Come live with me. (10 23%)
5. You call that "earning?" When I was a pup/kitten/kid I had to balance a ball on my nose for a peanut! (11 25%)
   

43 votes total (no multiples)
Well, my readers are not very sympathetic to my plight. I am very disappointed.

Statistics:
Starting view count: 1888
Followers: 45

What a great day I had Monday! To start off, my owner stayed home for the day. I love it when she does 'cause we spend so much more time together. Then it was raining, which I love because of the mud potential. But the best part was that I got to go visit a school. I hadn't done that in a long time and I'd forgotten how fun it is.

Walking up to the school in the rain.

I went specifically to visit a fourth grade class where a student had done a science project on capybaras. What a lucky girl! It makes me wish I could really attend school instead of just visiting but I don't guess that's an option.

Sheldon, my owner and I all checked in at the school office and met our student's mother and her friend. Her friend fed me an apple. I don't know why my owner doesn't do that. Well, maybe because I wouldn't eat it last time she gave me one. But you have to keep trying.

Eating an apple in the office.

I made a big splash in the office. Naturally everyone loved me. Then we had to climb some stairs up to the classroom. I am surprisingly good at going up and down stairs. Once in the classroom, our student gave a short introduction to capybaras (good job, Skyler!). Then my owner did a question and answer session.

My introduction.
Look how cute and good I am being.

Here are some of her questions (answers at the bottom).

1. What are the major predators of capybaras?
2. Where do capybaras live in the wild?
3. What do capybaras eat?
4. What's special about capybara teeth?
5. What is the second largest rodent?
   

The kids loved answering the questions.

The kids did great and I think they learned a lot. The thing they learned the most was that capbyaras are not just the largest rodent in the world, we are also the cutest.

When it was almost time to go, the original class filed out and a new one filed in. They didn't get much time with me so I felt sorry for them. Then on the way out, we stopped to visit with an eighth grade class. We were in the front of the school so other kids wandered by and I got mobbed a little bit. But I kept my cool. My owner gave a bunch of kids fresh blueberries so I just kept searching from hand to hand to find them. Some kids stuck out their hands when they didn't have blueberries and that seemed a bit dishonest but I guess I can't blame them.

Here are the answers:

1. jaguars, anacondas, caiman, crocodiles, people
2. eastern South America
3. mainly grasses and water plants
4. like all rodents, capybaras have teeth that grow throughout their lives
5. beavers
   

The slow slide to nowhere

Survey Results:
What do you think of Caplin Rous' TV appearances?

1. Haven't seen any of them but sure he was great! (11 26%)
2. AP should have made the whole show about him! (28 68%)
3. Move over Enzo, make room for Caplin Rous! (2 4%)
4. TLC reality show! OMG that would be great! (8 19%)
5. Fame is going to your head, you need to cut back. (0 0%)
   

41 votes total (multiple votes allowed)
It's nice to know none of you think I'm big headed. Come to think of it, I do have a pretty big head, especially the nose part of my head!

Statistics:

Starting view count: 877

Followers: 39

A strange thing happened this week: my life was changed by a photograph.

I have some capy friends in Houston to blame for this. Their owner posted some photos of them on his FaceBook page and my owner saw it and seized on it. It became an obsession with her. Below you see one of the original photos.

Houston capys playing on their toy.

For the next two days all my owner could talk about was how she was going to get one of those contraptions for me! Really, I am way too dignified for that. Those Houston capys don't have any class. But my owner would hear none of it, even though I eeped rather loudly. She searched the interweb. She scoured local stores, even those she hates like Target and WalMart.

When she didn't find what she wanted, I thought she would give up. But no, she settled--and therefore I settled--for less. She got me the dumb contraption you see me sitting on below.

I should have know this was going to go badly for me.

It is supposed to be a castle but it did not make me feel like a king. The Houstonian version is large enough--barely--for three capys. I hardly fit on this one by myself. And it doesn't have the same cute colors or holes for climbing through. But that didn't stop my owner. Next thing I knew, a popsicle was dangling in front of my face. When I went to grab it with my teeth, it moved farther from me and closer to that castle. Eventually I was sitting on it.

Believe me, I am not as content as I look!

Getting onto the platform was only worth 1/2 of a popsicle, if you can believe that. Amazingly, she expected me to willingly step onto that slippery blue slope and slide down! I resisted as long and as hard as I could but she still had that darned half of a popsicle and I wanted it!

She's dangling a popsicle just off-camera!

It looks so delicious!
Can't I just do a circle instead?

I couldn't let that popsicle go. Eventually I put one paw out and that was the end of it. Down the slide I went.

My owner gave me the other half of the popsicle when I got to the bottom and, I have to say, it was delicious. The problem now seems to be that I can't get a popsicle unless I climb up into the castle and slide down the other side. How do these things happen to me? Do I have a food addiction? Is my owner insane? What will she think up next?

Here's a link to my YouTube video video of my very first slide.

And if you missed me on Animal Planet, we're into reruns.

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.

Water 'Bara

Survey Results:
What do you think of pet clothes?
1) ZOMG! What are you thinking? Never! (6 14%)
2) I can see Halloween but nothing else. (1 2%)
3) Once in a whil is okay, as long as no one gets hurt. (29 69%)
4) I don't see why pets shouldn't have to wear clothes if people do. (5 11%)
5) Good point. I'm a nudist and so are my animals. (1 2%)

42 Votes Total
( I have reason to believe that the so-called nudist was lying.)

Me in the clean water of the pool.
I love floating in an innertube before I bite a hole in it.

If you know me or any of my kind, then you'll know capybaras love the water. What you might not know is that we like our water thick, the thicker the better. Sure, I'll swim in clean water when I have to, but mud is what I really want. Lately it's been hard to come by.

I remember way back when I was a baby that there used to be mud everywhere. Water actually fell from the sky. It formed little pools called puddles on the ground. I made my own mud by just rolling in those puddles and using my body to mix the water with the dirt. But then the sky dried up and so did the puddles. The last ones to go were at the bottom of the little creek that runs across our property. One day I ran out there with my owner in tow, all excited about playing in the mud and it was gone! That was the last I saw of it except a few feeble puddles my owner made for me last summer.

But something good happened last week. It got really cold and windy and water fell from the sky again! I didn't know what to think. It had been so long that when my owner let me out to graze, I just stood there in shock. It wasn't until the next day that I realized what had happened. Sadly, the "rain" quickly dried up and I only got to play in the mud a little before it was gone. In fact, I only tracked it into the house one time. What a waste. I'm going to work on that.

Getting ready to make me some MUD!

Then last weekend my owner and Sheldon and Coral and Carl all took me out to the creek. You can imagine my surprise when I saw puddles at the bottom! I had actually forgotten all about how the creek bed stores water like a swimming pool. In this case a swimming pool with a leaky bottom made out of mud, otherwise known as capybara heaven. Let me tell you, I made some fantastic mud. I smeared it all over my body. I dug my toes into it. I rubbed it on my face. It felt great. What a delightful future I envisioned for myself with those puddles.

I have found the thing I am best at.

When my owner took me back the next day, I was stunned. The puddle had lost over half its volume. Nooooo! I tried not to think about it as I played but it was hard. The next day the puddle was gone. The life of a capybara is so hard.

Capybaras are semi-aquatic because mud is semi-aquatic.

And then it rained again! Now that took me by surprise. Does this rain thing happen very often? Why don't I remember it from last year? Is it going to happen again soon? My puddles are back but they're pretty small. I'd feel better if I knew the would be replenished. My owner watches this thing called "The Weather" on TV. I think I might start watching it too.

Shaking off a bit of excess water.

Costume Clotheshorse

Survey Results:
What pets do you have?
1) I'm the luckiest person alive! I have a pet capybara! 0 (0%)
2) I'm pretty lucky! I have guinea pigs. (6 20%)
3) I'm a bit lucky. I have pet rodents. (4 13%)
4) I have only cats and/or dogs. 13 (44%)
5) I have livestock. Do they count? 3 (10%)
6) I have a non-rodent exotic pet. 6 (20%)

29 Votes Total (Multiple choices allowed)

St. Patrick's Day 2008

I dread holidays. All of them. Well, not the religious ones because my owner doesn't celebrate those, but all of the non-denominational holidays that should just be fun, those are the ones I hate.

This week we celebrated St. Patrick's Day, an observation of all things Irish. What's that got to do with me, you might wonder. Obviously, capybaras are not Irish; we are from South America. My owner isn't Irish either, she's half Greek by way of Panama and the other half is some German-English mix. But the actual Irish, and those of Irish descent, make this ridiculous claim that everyone is Irish on St. Patrick's Day, and according to my owner, that everyone extends to me.

Look at the photo of me at the top of this blog. Do you see that? I'm dressed up like a leprechaun with orange hair, a big green hat and a shamrock on my back. That was last year. Below you can see what indignation I had to suffer this year. Tiny green men sitting on me. They weren't really there but still, the photo is humiliating.

St. Patrick's Day 2009

This fiasco started when I was a baby 'bara. I remember the first time my owner dressed me up. I wasn't three months old. When Halloween came around she took me to the pet store and tried a variety of dog costumes on me--dog costumes!--finally settling on Pocahontas even though she suspected I was a boy.

Me as Pocahontas, Halloween 2007

Halloween 2008 she dressed me up as one of the horses.

At New Year's 2008 and 2009 she made me look like a drunken lush.

New Year's Eve 2007->2008
Do I look like the kind of capybara who would drink to excess?

New Year's Eve 2008->2009
I guess this has a good message but why make it look like I would do that?

For Cinco de Mayo I wore a mustache.

May 5, 2008
I don't think capybaras can even grow a mustache.

And for July fourth a tiara.

July 4th, 2008

We capybaras are dignified animals. We don't need this kind of decoration to make us beautiful or interesting or to get attention. I can tell you, I get plenty of attention as it is. Why does she do this to me?

Looking on the bright side, I only have to wear the stupid costumes for a few minutes and it's not a holiday every day. So I'm not as bad off as some of those dogs with their cute little sweaters and booties. I think I'd have to bite her if she tried that.

Caplin Rous & Neptune: BFFs

Survey results:
Have you ever met a capybara?
1) Yes! I've met Caplin Rous. (4, 11%)
2) Yes! I've met another pet capybara. (2, 5%)
3) Sort of. I saw capybaras at the zoo. (13, 38%)
4) No. My life is so incomplete. (15, 44%)


It has taken some time for me to get over the loss of my friend Seabiscuit (aka The Rabbit (Caplin & The Rabbit). I still miss our long talks under the dining room table. Luckily Coral and Carl bought a cute little guinea pig named Neptune to help ease the pain.

Neptune isn't like The Rabbit because he can't run around on the floor with me. The Rabbit weighed about four pounds but Neptune probably doesn't even tip the scale at one pound. He's a tiny thing. Coral and Carl are scared I will step on him. My owner is too. Neptune isn't. He trusts me to be careful.

That is a mistake on his part. I can't tell you how many times I've jumped on the bed or the couch only to hear my owner scream out in pain. I don't mean to hurt her but these paws weren't made for walking on humans. I'm pretty sure they weren't made for walking on guinea pigs either but that's more open for debate, after all, wild guinea pigs and capybaras probably co-existed in the wild. I say probably because guinea pigs have been domesticated for a long, long time and no one knows for sure what wild rodent they descend from.

Is that anything good for me to eat?
Lettuce? You've got to be kidding.

One nice thing about Neptune is that he and I speak the same language. His sounds are called wheeks and mine are called eeps but, you know, it's just a case of tomato-tomato (pronounce those differently to get the desired effect). Surprisingly, his wheeks are lower pitched than my eeps with the same meaning. I would have thought that being so much larger, I would have the deeper voice. Maybe my high-pitched eeps carry better underwater.

I do make my noises underwater. Like guinea pigs, I make my incredible array of sounds without opening my mouth. I think they come from my heart! I don't think anyone has ever recorded the underwater calls of a capybara. That would be an interesting research project for an advanced student in capybara biology.

Neptune is a smart little guy. He has learned the circle trick only he calls it "turn-around." He can also beg, but I don't think he really had to learn how to do that. Those are his only tricks. It's hard to imagine him learning to shake or wave like I do because his front legs are so stubby I'm not sure he can stick them out from under him. He could learn tapa-tapa, where I tap my owner's leg with my paw, but I don't think Coral and Carl have worked on that yet.

If you want to see videos of me and Neptune, check out:
(Caplin Rous in Three Rodents)
and
(Caplin Rous & Neptune: BFFs)

Me and Neptune, chillaxin'