Posted on 08/27/2006 12:24:20 AM PDT by Marius3188
LUNENBURG— There’s still no sign of Capy.
The escaped capybara, a large rodent native to South America, has been on the run since Tuesday. The animal escaped from Marshall Farm in Fitchburg, near the Lunenburg line, and was spotted Tuesday on the property of Frank and Debra McDonald of Northfield Road.
The property abuts the Maplewood Golf Course.
Maryann Benevento, who owns the public course with her husband, Joe, said the exotic herbivore known as Capy is probably enjoying his surroundings too much to head back home.
“He’s probably happy as a clam out there with plenty of water and grass,” Mrs. Benevento said yesterday.
Traps designed to catch the animal without harming it have been set up, including one near the eighth hole at Maplewood, Mrs. Benevento said.
That hole is between the course and the McDonald property.
Mrs. Benevento said the golf course has plenty of animal sightings over the 11 years she and her husband have owned the property, including foxes, porcupines, deer and even a moose.
She hasn’t seen Capy herself, but hopes the animal finds its way back to the petting zoo before falling victim to the coyotes that roam the area.
“He’s probably just having a good time out there,” she said.
Massachusetts always attracts Rats.
Being a native of the Amazon basin, if the coyotes don't get him, the winter probably will. Incidently, at 40 lbs, a capy might be a little big for a coyote. My husband spent some time in Brazil, and they are considered good eating.
Just another big RAT. Will probably be elected in November to the state legislature.
If it has a drink in his paw it's not Capy it's Teddy....
Vote Cappy!
A True DemomRAT!
And an undocumented foreign gest worker!
The capybara is a FISH! The Pope said so.
While most people might take one look at a capybara and consider this classification laughable, the Roman Catholic Church believes otherwise. The Church historically demanded that its adherents forgo the consumption of any form of meat besides fish during Lent. Europeans exploring Central and South America discovered that the capybara was similar to many of the richer meats they were familiar with such as chicken and pork. This discovery in hand, they realized they might have found a loophole and submitted a strange petition to the Church. Since the semi-aquatic capybara spends much of its day in the water, they argued that one should consider it a fish. Despite the fact that capybaras are no relation to fish, the Roman Catholic Church agreed to call it a fish and ever since then hundreds of people have eaten capybara during Lent.
When Catholic missionaries first met capybaras in South America during the 16th century, they wrote to Rome for guidance, saying "there is an animal here that is scaly but also hairy, and spends time in the water but occasionally comes on land; can we classify it as a fish?" The question was significant, as the Catholic faith forbides eating meat (other than fish) during Lent, the period of abstinence lasting 40 days before Easter. Not wanting the petitioners to turn away from Catholicism, the Church agreed and declared the capybara a fish — a decision that was never reversed.
i'm a fan of capybaras also.
they used to have some at the bronx zoo and at the baltimore zoo, and they still have some in montreal.
for anyone who hasn't seen them--they are sort of like giant, semi-aquatic gunea pigs.
< ]B^)
Maybe you would know - is that the same as a Nutria?
No it is not a nutria. They are smaller and have gone wild in the US where they are doing terrible damage to the marshlands in a number of states. I think they also make good fur coats. Solution here anyone?
(No more Olmert! No more Kadima! No more Oslo! )
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