Dallas Zoo Pictures and a Cappybara

[Kevin]

Oh I bet he has a distinct odor. I've never actually seen one. But the Dallas zoo has a bird show and they brought out this Cappybara. They are rodents. I would not BBQ one, not even for my rude neighbors...well maybe for them.

Here is a good size comparison against his trainer.

and he swims! Those webbed feet. It's pretty interesting. Everytime I go to the zoo I learn something new. My daughter is such a sponge. Lots of times, just out of the blue she will start telling me about the habitat of some creature.

Anyway, here are a couple birds....
Toucan:

Eurasian Eagle Owl. He is one of my favorites. I think he weighs about 4 pounds. I've posted pictures of him before... but here I was probably 3 feet from him taking these pictures. He didn't like the camera very much.

 

[WendyZXZ]

Those are very nice pictures, my favorite is the owl!

 

[Kevin]

Thanks, yeah that owl is so calm. I always wonder what he is thinking. It amazes me how they go about training birds too, let alone some giant rodent.

 

[cadillo]

I once saw a TV documentary on them. They stated that the Catholic Church at one time classified the animal as a fish, so that their South American church members would feel OK about eating them on Fridays.

You just can't buy entertainment like that!

 

[BearBio]

Between college graduation and entry into grad school, I taught a Tropical Ecology class (for a bunch of Business Majors) in Belize and Guatemala. Toucans are really funny to see flying==look like a flying canoe.

While there, I did try agouti and Gunea pig==close relatives of the capybara. Both tasted like rabbit.

 

[Mike Armstrong]

Capybara=jaguar chow. Great pics!