Rodent Spotlight: Paca

I think it is about time to announce that I am very swiftly nearing the end of my Rodent Spotlight series. We still have a few more to go, however, and I hope that you will enjoy the remaining rodents that I have chosen for your pleasure.

You might remember an old blog about the mighty capybara and how unusually large it was. Well, the capybara is part of an extremely fascinating infraorder of rodents known as caviomorpha. It seems that I have been running into these guys a lot lately so expect to be hearing much about them in the next few blogs.

Probably the most well-known "cavis" are the capybara and the guinea pig, but there are others that caught my attention as well. Case in point: the paca [pronounced pah' - kuh]. While these guys are not quite as large as the capybaras, they are still bigger than your common mouse or squirrel. They also have interesting fur designs which remind me a little of the markings you commonly see on deer.

There are a few things that caught my attention about the pacas. Firstly, they love to swim; in fact, they are very adept at holding their breath--sometimes up to fifteen minutes. This is an excellent ability because they tend to leap into water at the first sign of danger. By the time they surface for air, the predator has given up the hunt.

The paca is a burrowing animal. Check this out: They put leaves at two different entrances to the burrow to both act as a hiding component but also as an alarm system in case they are being invaded. What's next--HD cameras with night vision?!

Although I want to go into more detail, I will only mention one particular thing about their reproduction. Pacas almost always mate in water. When the male paca approaches the female, she tends to hop up and down enthusiastically. Well... it goes on from there, and that's all I'll say,

As far as fiction, I actually see the pacas as playful and friendly. Here's a race of rodent that will be your buddy and maybe go out to the pond with you for a splendid day out. I do actually see them as very gregarious as people. They would probably be more apt to spot you for a meal as well. Expect a lot of fruit. They like fruit. Also, you should not mind them as traveling companions. They would rig traps everywhere around the campsite and plan escape routes for maximum safety. Clever AND friendly! I like these guys! So you might wanna consider making a paca your friend; just be prepared to eat a lot of fruit. They really like fruit!

Thank you for reading this blog. If you enjoyed it, you can comment below, or you can email me at tooie@tooiekangaroo.com. Fruit!