The Senior SMARTIES have just completed a class on BIOMES and one of the things we did was that we looked at some of the amazing wildlife in different parts of the world. When we covered the Amazon rainforest, I found a really adorable creature…
Y’all… I think this could be my new best friend! Isn’t it CUTE?!? It looks like a giant, chubby guinea pig, doesn’t it?
This is the capybara. It is a giant cavy rodent native to South America. You can find capybaras on the grasslands or the dense rainforests.
The capybara is an excellent swimmer – it has partially webbed toes which are so nifty for paddling around and its eyes, nose, and hairless ears are located high on its head so that it can look around and stay alert when most of its body is submerged. Oh, and guess what else? It can hold its breath underwater for up to five minutes a time.
The capybara’s teeth grow continuously, so it wears them down by grazing on aquatic plants, grasses, and other plentiful plants.
OK, so one thing that’s just a little weird about this cutie is that it eats its own poo in the morning. (Don’t judge him! Nobody’s perfect!) The reason why it does this is that that’s when its poo is protein rich from the high number of microbes digesting the previous day’s meals. The grasses it eats are so hard to digest, so eating its waste essentially allows it to digest it twice. See? He’s not being wasteful and he’d make a perfect breakfast guest – you don’t need to serve him anything. 🤣
What’s really cute about the capybara is that it is so super friendly! Ol’ Cappy is super chill and relaxed and loves making friends! Birds love the capybara because they get a free meal from the insects stuck in its fur. When ol’ Cappy grazes, it exposes the insects hidden in the grass for the birds too. It is so helpful to other animals as well … how nice is that?
The Senior SMARTIES completed a unit entitled “ONE EARTH” in November 2021. These sessions covered the tundra, deserts, tropical rainforests and the taiga. If you are interested in finding out more about SMARTIES, you can read about us here.
