Here’s a quick profile of one of the strangest pets out there – the capybara.
- Native to South America, capybaras are the world’s largest rodent, weighing between 35 to 66 kg (77 to 146 lbs.)
- The animals are herbivores, feeding on grasses, aquatic plants, fruit, and tree bark.
- They’re coprophagous, which means they eat their own poop. Scientists think they do this to fortify gut bacteria and maximize vitamin intake from food. The animals have been noted to also regurgitate and re-chew food for the same reasons.
- Capybaras can run as fast as a horse, but spend lots of time in the water, too. The animals can remain submerged for up to five minutes and love wallowing in the mud.
- With teeth that constantly grow (meaning they chew a lot of stuff), and a detailed patchwork of state and federal regulations in place governing the ownership of exotic pets, it’s important you check your local laws before even considering taking one of these things into your home. (And then it’s still probably a bad idea.)
(Image Credits: Flickr Creative Commons: yoppy, Marie Hale / Source: Wikimedia Commons, “A descriptive account of capybara behaviour,” Animal Planet)
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