seekingmygreaterperhaps

Oi! Tudo bem?

Brasilia, especially around the lake, is home to the capybara. I’ve seen them twice, once when I went paddleboarding and another time when I took Kya to a walk around the peninsula. I thought I would take some time to explore them a little bit and share some interesting facts with you!

Above is the first time I saw a herd of capybara (yes, a group of capybara is called a herd). This was right after I went SUPing on Lago Norte. I was with Kya, and I got really scared because I have heard people tell me to be careful with my dog because capybara can attack dogs. Kya is not a small dog, so this might be a factor. But she pointed at them and then skittered back towards me, so I was scared. We were with a guide who shone a bright flashlight at them, and they stopped and blended in with the environment. Their flight/fight/freeze kicked in to freeze and we passed by peacefully. Mali scolded us and said that when you see wildlife you definitely shouldn’t run away. I will remember that when I got to the Pantanal soon. Oops!

Hitting you with some facts. Capybaras are the largest living rodent and are native to South America. They are much larger than I thought. Someone described them to be like a giant guinea pig… but they are the size of a large dog. They are bigger than Kya! They weigh 35 to 66 kg (77 to 146 lb) on average. I didn’t pick one up, obviously, but this is definitely bigger than your average guinea pig. Capybara live in savannah regions and live by the water. They live in groups of 10-20. All of this tracks with Brasilia and what I have seen.

Capybaras are good swimmers, and can hold their breathe for 5 minutes underwater. They would definitely beat me in a breathing contest. Capybaras chew their food by grinding it back and forth because their jaws don’t hinge perpendicularly. Remind me NEVER to invite them over for dinner, that would drive me crazy.

I learned that capybaras have a history in meme culture. They were reported to be causing problems in a gated community in an affluent area of Argentina called Nordelta. The internet ate this up, and now the capybara can be seen as a symbol of class struggle.

Bonus fun fact! The capybara is on the 2 peso coin in Uruguay.

All my facts came from Wikipedia. Thanks for learning more!

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