A while back, around 8 million years ago, giant guinea pigs the size of buffaloes roamed the environs of what is today South America. These 1500 lb gentle creatures were confirmed by a recent fossil discovery in Venezuela. No macro lens required to photograph these guys.
Distantly related to those giants of the past are two pet guinea pigs we've owned. Rusty (r.i.p.) and Piglet. Why guinea pigs? Marion and Trevor are both allergic to cats, so that rules them out, and although we like dogs, they're high maintenance. So we tried a low-maintenance guinea pig that we named Rusty. Guinea pigs do not come from guinea nor are they pigs. They're essentially tailless South American rodents that have been domesticated. They're frequently called "cavies" after their scientific name Cavia cutleri. To see an impressive dedicated website on guinea pigs, visit Seagull's Guinea Pig Compendium.
Rusty
(click on image for a larger view)Rusty was a curious guy with a constantly amazed look on his face. Like, what is that photographer doing on his belly trying to photograph me sitting under a bookcase? Maybe he'll bring me some tall grass.
Alas, Rusty passed away. We donated his cage to our nephew Paul for his pet rat and spent about eight months guinea-less. Then Marion brought home a little girl guinea. We never could decide on a good name. My suggestion that we always get them in the same colour and simply call them all Rusty didn't wash, so in the end we called her Piglet with fond memories of Winnie-the-Pooh. Shortened to Piggie or just Pig.
Piglet
(click on image for a larger view)Piglet is more spirited than Rusty was and runs like lightning. We play a little game of tag a couple times a day when I bring her fresh treats such as romaine lettuce and carrots. I dance around the room where we let her run during the day and she darts from one shelter to another, then loops back, turns, spins, dashes past my feet, and checks the food spot. If nothing's there, she starts her circuit all over again. Like all the guineas we've met, she's affectionate and likes to be cuddled. That's the only time she's still enough for me to grab a photograph.
As primates who evolved into a specialized species so fascinated with itself it invented cameras, we have a close connection to the rest of the planet's living creatures. Some of them become parts of our immediate family. I wouldn't doubt that some early humans, had they been living then, might have attempted to make pets of those 1500 lb bison-sized guinea pigs. We're like that.
(19-Sep-2003, Revised 16-Jun-2004)
www.NorthernJourney.com -- gene@wilburn.ca