Photos at right released by Melanie Typaldos show Typaldos and Caplin her pet capybara wearing his Halloween custome and Caplin and her daughter’s pet guinea pig, Neptune. The capybara, Hydrochoerus Hydrochaeris, is a semi-aquatic rodent of South America. It weighs about a hundred pounds, and is about 2 feet tall at the shoulder.
(AP Photos/Courtesy Melanie Typaldpos)

Sandy, a coworker of mine, called me to her computer recently to view one of several photos of a pet capybara.

Intrigued, I started doing some research.

A capybara, the largest rodent in the world, is indigenous to South America. They can get up to four feet tall and weigh well over 100 pounds. They have webbed feet because they spend a lot of time in the water. They also hate cold.

The young are ready to go and can swim as soon as they pop out and are grazing within a matter of days. There can be anywhere from three to seven “yungins” to a litter. Capys usually breed once a year, but can breed twice a year if they are of a mind and the conditions are right. They’re weaned after 16 weeks.

While I was on the Internet trying to learn more, I came across a person blogging about their experience living with a two-year-old male capybara. They wrote that he is quite affectionate and “dog like” in personality. They seemed quite happy with him.

This same individual, however, did a great job pointing out the downside of owning a capy. For instance, there is no pre-made capy chow, so you’re stuck fixing their grub and making sure they get the right nutritional needs. You might have a hard time finding a vet that will treat them or even know how to. You have to have plenty of yard (like an acre or two?) and a pool or a pond where, from what I gather, they “do their business.” (But you’d never have to mow your lawn.)

What the person didn’t blog about was (thank goodness for the San Diego Zoo) that they sometimes eat their own poop. Apparently, they do it for the beneficial bacteria that help break down fiber in their diet. (At least in the wild.) Uck. And like cows or some goats, they’ll regurgitate their food. Uck again.

Still, I’d like to spend some time with someone that has one just to see for myself.
All I can say is wait until PETA gets wind of this.

At right:
AP Photo | CAROLYN KASTER

John Griffiths, a handler of the weather-predicting groundhog Punxsutawney Phil, holds him in the air on Groundhog Day . . . (From February 2009)

The last time I took issue with People for Ethical Treatment of Animals was when the organization got upset with Obama because he swatted a fly during an interview in June of 2009.
Now PETA thinks Punxsutawney Phil, the furry Pennylvania prophesier, is being abused, stating in a release from the AP that “it is unfair to keep the animal in captivity and subject him to the huge crowds and bright lights that accompany tens of thousands of revelers each Feb. 2 . . . ”
I went to Phil’s Web site, Groundhog.org., and took a gander at the publicity photos. Phil doesn’t look upset to me. He’s allowing a gentleman in fine clothes and a tophat to hold him, something an upset groundhog wouldn’t do. He’s rather sleek and looks well cared for, if a bit on the tubby side, but tubbiness is the nature of the beast.
According to the same release, William Deeley, president of the Inner Circle of Punxsutawney Groundhog Club (yes, there is such a club), stated that PP is “being treated better than the average child in Pennsylvania.” I can believe that. My dog is treated better than some Illinois children.
I don’t think Phil realizes the difference between a burrow in captivity and a burrow in the wild. He probably spends his days munching, sleeping, and munching. What more could a rodent want? He is, however, an escape artist. The article with the above photo from the Lehigh Valley Express Times stated Phil “has escaped his man-made home at the Punxsutawney Library . . . He then climbs into the library’s ceiling and travels about 50 feet before dropping into some library offices.” A few of the reader comments below the story suggest he might have been looking for some female companionship. Perhaps the Groundhog Club could help him out with that.
PETA is giving Phil way too much credit for being a creature with self-awareness, so to speak. (I don’t think Phil has the ability, for instance, to answer the question of how much wood a woodchuck could chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood.)
I just can’t throw in with the notion that Phil is being mistreated when there are so many other animals out there that really are in dire straits.
To cite an example, the Missouri Humane Society and Gasconade County Sheriff’s Department recently rescued 13 horses from a property near Red Bud, Mo. The horses were severly underweight and had no access to drinking water. There were also 12 dead horses found on the same property.

PETA would do well to channel their efforts where more urgent abuse exists.

There’s a YouTube video from California making the rounds of a dog that gets up from the floor and runs from the room just before the Jan. 9 earthquake hits that area. If you haven’t seen it, paste the following Web site in your browser: http://earthquakedog.blogspot.com.

The dog’s owner states on the blog that the dog “senses” or “smells” the earthquake. The dog is stretched out with most of her body on the floor. I think she physically felt the quake coming, more than smelled it, but who knows.

(Actually, its a neat blog with lots of useful disaster readiness information and it’s obvious the dog, Sophie, is loved a lot.)

Fantastic tales of animals as quadrupedal prognosticators of catastrophic events go back thousands of years. More recently, after the 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami, a story made the rounds on the Internet that before the big wave hit, animals fled to high ground away from the ocean as if they knew it was coming. I don’t know if this was true or an exagerration of events.

I searched the Internet to see if I could find any scientific research on the subject of animal behavior and natural disasters. All I found were articles that stated a few countries had done studies of it, but found nothing was conclusive and more research was needed.

I really don’t think there’s any kind of critter clairvoyance going on. Animals are just keener at what goes on around them than humans are. They have to rely more on their physical senses of hearing, sight, touch, and smell than we do.

Years ago, I was reading a newspaper and happened to come across a letter to Dr. Fox, a veterinarian and sydicated columnist. The letter writer was complaining that every time they walked their dog, it took twice as much time because the dog had to stop and whiff everything. I’ll never forget Dr. Fox’s response. He replied that when a dog smells the ground (or whatever), it is to them like reading the daily newspaper. The dog receives a tremendous amount of information relevant to their world through their keen sense of smell. (DUH!)

Humans are bipeds, who spend their time walking about on the relatively small, flat area of two feet, with most of the body erect, far from the ground. Humans use verbal language to communicate. And we don’t rely on hunting and foraging to eat. In addition, in these modern times, we’re usually hooked up to the latest technological gadget such as an iPod or cell phone. (Talk about not knowing what is going on around you.) Humans just don’t have to depend on hearing, sight, touch or smell for survival.
If you don’t use it, you lose it.

Shown at right:
Joe Raedle / Getty Images
Christopher Holmes from the Fairfax County Urban Search and Rescue searches for survivors in the rubble of a building on Thursday in Port-au-Prince.

One of the lead stories in The Telegraph today, Friday, Jan. 15, is about six puppies that were wrapped in a feed bag and thrown into a recycling dumpster in Jersey County. As luck would have it, a man opened the receptacle, heard the whimpering, retrieved them, and took them straightaway to 5As Humane Society.

Not only does man’s inhumanity to man never cease to amaze me, but also man’s inhumanity to other living creatures.

Before I left for work this morning, the Today Show aired an interview with a gentleman who was discussing the latest on the Haitian earthquake. I didn’t catch who he was, but my impression was that he was connected to the United Nations. While he was being interviewed behind him, I saw search and rescue teams with their dogs filing by in the background.

With all that we can train dogs to do for us humans - whether it be to assist in the hunt, to assist the blind, or assist in the rescue and recovery of people during a natural disaster - there are still people out there who will just toss a dog as if it was garbage.
Words fail me.

Thought you’d see my dog with a party hat and whistle? Nope.

The photo above illustrates how we both “partied on” New Year’s Eve. We are just too old to appreciate the festivities. Especially after all the Christmas to-dos.

I can’t remember when I stopped going out to celebrate New Year’s Eve (which proves my point about age). Maybe it was when I found myself yawning more frequently, wishing I was tucked in bed with a good book or crossword puzzle and a cup of hot chocolate, and midnight was still four or five hours away. Dealing with the noise and confusion of people who have had too much to drink just got to be no fun. When it stopped being fun, I stopped going out.

The dog was happier that way, too.

So, Jakers and I spent the night tucked in and we were asleep long before midnight.

Both Jakers and I do, however, wish nothing but good fortune and health for you and yours in the coming year.

Adopt-A-Pet Shelter, the no-kill facility located in Benld, has begun its annual Tree of Hope Campaign, the shelter’s largest fundraiser.

An individual, company, group, school or family can participate by sending a contribution to light one of the tree lights in honor or in memory of a beloved pet or person.

When room allows, it accepts young, old, healthy or disabled companion animals and places them in homes. Those not adopted are cared for at the shelter for life.

The contributions sent to the Tree of Hope Campaign help support the needs of the shelter including food, medicine, and veterinary costs. Donations may be sent to Adopt-A-Pet, P.O. Box 53, Benld, IL 62009. For further information, call (217) 835-2538.

If you have just adopted a kitten, I feel for you. You’ll have “help” wrapping presents and decorating the tree.

You may find that your dog has feasted on the special hor’deurves you’ve set out for your guests. There may be nothing left but the wet tell-tale signs of a big, slobbery tongue. Remember the Bumpus’ dogs in “A Christmas Story?” Mom left the turkey out of the oven and sitting on the kitchen table while she walked out of the room. The next door neighbor’s bloodhounds finished it off and the family ended up at a Chinese restaurant for Christmas dinner.

You might find your cat at the top of the Christmas tree swinging from a star.

If your pup isn’t completely housebroken, he might think he’s outside when he sniffs the real tree you looked so long and hard for. Dogs usually love to mark their territory on trees. Or he might think the water at the base of the tree tastes better than the toilet water.

Just when we think we’ve thought of everything to protect them (and ourselves) from holiday horrors, there always seems to be a way they outwit us. If we’re lucky, it’ll just involve a clean up.

These things always bear repeating:
To avoid an emergency trip to the vet, watch pets don’t play with or chew electrical cords (”National Lampoons Christmas Vacation” comes to mind), glass ornaments or ornament hooks. You might want to skip the Christmas tree tinsel.

Watch lighted candles. I forgot the parakeet was out one year and he nearly singed his tailfeathers as he flew over it.

Remember that some foods we enjoy can be poisonous to pets. The ASPCA, always a good Web site for pet information, has this list: alcoholic beverages, avocado, chocolate (all forms), coffee (all forms), fatty foods, macadamia nuts, moldy or spoiled foods, onions, onion powder, raisins and grapes, salt, yeast dough, garlic, products sweetened with xylitol. Xylitol is a common ingredient in sugar-free gum.

If you take medication or have houseguests with medical problems, make sure all medicine is kept in a secure place away from prying noses and none ends up inadvertently on the floor.

Festive parties could be stressful to a pet not used to a lot of people and noise. Keep them in another room or somewhere quiet away from all of it, especially if there are young children. Remember to take things from your pet’s point of view. The party could be loads of fun for you, but your pet may be miserable.

On a side note, you might find some unique gifts for the animal lovers in your life on the ASPCA or the Humane Society Web site. Not only will you be getting gifts no one else may have thought of, but helping to support the agencies and their work. In this economy, it’s needed now more than ever.

I thought about starting this blog with a Jeff Foxworthy variation: You know you’re a red neck when you try to put your Saint Bernard down and you have to shoot it three times to kill it.
But that would be insulting red necks.
I’m referring to the incident that took place in Moro a couple weeks ago where Walter Nettleton shot his St. Bernard, Max, then buried him in his yard. His neighbors heard the shots and the dog’s howls and called Madison County Sheriff’s Department.
Like other pet owners, I was horrified, not just for the dog, but I felt for the man’s neighbors. If it took three shots for Nettleton to kill the dog, were they in any danger?
The information given to The Telegraph was Nettleton stated the dog suffered from seizures. Officials with the Madison County Sheriff’s Department said that there was evidence the dog did have health problems, but didn’t say what evidence or specify what kind of health problems.
As the story unfolded, The Telegraph learned that Nettleton was charged with obstruction of justice (he told law officials he had not used his own firearm) and did not have a valid Firearm Owners Identification Card.
If Nettleton lied to authorities about his ownership of the gun, a .357 caliber Magnum, and had no FOID card, did the dog really suffer from seizures as Nettleton told authorities? How did the Madison County Sheriff’s Department know there was a health problem with the dog? What evidence was there? The dog was already dead (and buried) by the time they got there. Just what was so wrong with Mac that Nettleton felt he had to shoot him?
Yes, years ago when the number of choices on what to do with an animal was slim indeed, people took their animals to a REMOTE area and shot them. The few people I’ve known in my life who put their animals down in this manner were at peace with it because they were capable of killing the animal quickly, cleanly, and therefore, humanely. At the bottom of it all, they didn’t want to do it, found it hard to do and had respect, if not love, for the animal that was at their mercy.
It would seem that, barring more information, Nettleton had respect for nothing. Not the dog, his neighbors or the law.

Nov. 14th: 5A’s adoption at Alton Square, Homer Adams Prkwy, 11 a.m until 3 pm
Nov. 28th: 5A’s adoption at Petco, Homer Adams Prkwy, 11 a.m. until 3 p.m.
Nov. 21st: Mouse Races to benefit 5As, 7 p.m. Saturday, Nov 21, Pete’s Lounge, Alby St. Tickets are $15.00 for one, $25.00 for two, that includes draft beer and or soda.