FLORIDA PLAGUED BY INVASIVE CAPYBARAS

Florida is plagued with many invasive species, such as monkeys and boa constrictors set loose by their owners. Now, the state has a capybara problem. Capybaras are the world’s largest rodents. They look like giant Guinea pigs – 2 feet tall and 200 pounds. Speaking at the 53rd Annual Conference of the Animal Behavior Society, biologist Elizabeth Congdon, of Bethune-Cookman University in Daytona Beach, says a known group of capybaras are living and breeding in Northern Florida. It’s believed the South American mammal was accidentally released in Florida sometime in the last 15 years. It’s estimated that there are at least 50 currently living in the Florida wilds. They prefer to live in tropical forest areas along rivers, lakes and marshes. It is a highly social species and can be found in groups as large as 100 individuals, but usually lives in groups of 10–20 individuals. Capybaras are gentle and will usually allow humans to pet and hand-feed them, but they can carry diseases.
* Oh, thanks, Mom.
* I sense a chain restaurant opportunity developing here.
* “Cappy O’Bara’s”. Dibs on the name.
* They were accidentally released? Yeah, when somebody’s pet crossed the 200-pound mark.
* “Sorry, Johnny, but Mr. McScruffles isn’t as cute as he used to be, now that he weighs more than your Mom.”
* Wait’ll they start cross-breeding with the wild boars. That should be fun.
* Yes, these are the world’s largest rodents and the New York City rats aren’t too happy about it.
* They live in groups of 100? Wow, they even sound like New York City rats.
* Maybe this is good. It’ll give the boa constrictors something to feed on besides the native birds.
* And they could lure the Disney World alligators away from the children.
* There’s only 50 of them now, but they could hump their way into being a real problem.
* Wait, the conference was called the Animal Behavior Society? How wild is that convention?