World's largest rodent roams Calif. wastewater plant - Department of Fish and Game says this one is about 100 to 120 lbs -
You won't believe what is lurking in the wastewater in Paso Robles. We've all heard of sewer rats — how about sewer capybaras?
They're the largest rodents in the world, and one is roaming North County. They're native to South America, and one was spotted at the Paso Robles Wastewater Treatment Plant three weeks ago.
Capybaras can reach the size of a large dog, and the Department of Fish and Game says this one is about 100 to 120 pounds.
Some describe it as a giant rat, others a giant guinea pig.
"It was just a different-looking animal than we've ever seen here," said Nick Kamp, a wastewater operator, who took pictures of the capybara.
He said July 22 started out as a normal day — until he saw a capybara rise from the wastewater pond. It's the last step in the wastewater processing plant before it dumps into the Salinas River.
"It had the body of a pig, but it had a longer nose and head to it," Kamp said.
He said the capybara appeared calm and serene.
"He'd come up and look at us and go back down," he said. "At times, it would swim with its head just out of the water, and other times, it would swim totally submerged."
It locked eyes with Kamp before submerging into the wastewater.
"You could see just bubbles that were coming up to the surface where it was swimming," he said.
Capybaras are known to be excellent swimmers, and workers here say this one seemed to know right where it was going. They say they saw it swimming around in the water before finally making its way toward the Salinas River.
But while it's the first time the Department of Fish and Game has gotten pictures, it's not a capybara's first appearance on the Central Coast.
The first sighting was about three years ago five miles east of Paso Robles at the Hunter Ranch Golf Course.
The second was two years ago at a ranch about a mile from the treatment plant on North River Road. The ranch owner says the capybara chased the horse away before eating its hay; it then chased after the ranch's labrador retriever.
Read more -
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/44163324/ns/us_news-weird_news/
You won't believe what is lurking in the wastewater in Paso Robles. We've all heard of sewer rats — how about sewer capybaras?
They're the largest rodents in the world, and one is roaming North County. They're native to South America, and one was spotted at the Paso Robles Wastewater Treatment Plant three weeks ago.
Capybaras can reach the size of a large dog, and the Department of Fish and Game says this one is about 100 to 120 pounds.
Some describe it as a giant rat, others a giant guinea pig.
"It was just a different-looking animal than we've ever seen here," said Nick Kamp, a wastewater operator, who took pictures of the capybara.
He said July 22 started out as a normal day — until he saw a capybara rise from the wastewater pond. It's the last step in the wastewater processing plant before it dumps into the Salinas River.
"It had the body of a pig, but it had a longer nose and head to it," Kamp said.
He said the capybara appeared calm and serene.
"He'd come up and look at us and go back down," he said. "At times, it would swim with its head just out of the water, and other times, it would swim totally submerged."
It locked eyes with Kamp before submerging into the wastewater.
"You could see just bubbles that were coming up to the surface where it was swimming," he said.
Capybaras are known to be excellent swimmers, and workers here say this one seemed to know right where it was going. They say they saw it swimming around in the water before finally making its way toward the Salinas River.
But while it's the first time the Department of Fish and Game has gotten pictures, it's not a capybara's first appearance on the Central Coast.
The first sighting was about three years ago five miles east of Paso Robles at the Hunter Ranch Golf Course.
The second was two years ago at a ranch about a mile from the treatment plant on North River Road. The ranch owner says the capybara chased the horse away before eating its hay; it then chased after the ranch's labrador retriever.
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Read more -
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/44163324/ns/us_news-weird_news/
Now that is one huge rodent. Well, I do hope that they don't kill them or something. They should just be relocated or something like that if they are disrupting the operations in that facility.
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