You may never have heard of the capybara, since it lives in Central and South America, east of the Andes Mountains.
It is the largest of all the rodents and looks like a small pig or an overgrown guinea pig. Its thick body is covered in dark, coarse hair, and its hind legs are longer than its front legs. Webbed toes help make it a swift swimmer. It is a sociable animal, living in a group of 20 or more on the shore of a river, swamp or lake adjoining a grassy plain. Its happiest occupation seems to be standing up to its stomach in a muddy swamp, busily eating the plants growing there.
It does not have many enemies, but if a capybara is in danger, its best means of escape is to plunge into the nearest water, leaving only its eyes, ears and nostrils exposed until the enemy goes away. However, it is not so easy to get away from an angry farmer when raiding a melon patch or field of corn. Perhaps it was first discovered that capybaras are good for food when one was shot and taken home.
A female raises four or five two-pound babies each year. They are born with a fair coat of hair and immediately are able to open their eyes. Their front teeth begin growing at birth and never stop. If it were not for constantly biting and chewing plants and other foods, this could become a real problem, but the Creator has arranged that their eating habits and growth of teeth are in balance.
Strangely, young capybaras have no interest in venturing into water until the parents coax them in. Then, like some children who are slow to take their parents’ advice, they find that it is very pleasant. From then on they spend more of their waking hours in water than out of it.
Having discovered how tasty the meat of the capybara is, many South American ranchers now raise them in fenced areas. Possibly this animal, once scarcely known even in its homeland, may become a well-known food supply even in far away places.
These unusual animals have followed their pattern of life ever since the day they were created and God declared, “Let the earth bring forth the living creature after his kind” (Genesis 1:2424And God said, Let the earth bring forth the living creature after his kind, cattle, and creeping thing, and beast of the earth after his kind: and it was so. (Genesis 1:24)). It is well to remember that the Bible, God’s Word, is always true, and God’s way is always perfect. Believing in the Bible’s account of creation is the only safe ground on which to stand. Any other teaching is only man’s idea.
ML-09/03/2000