The Patagonian Cavy is an animal of many names; Patagonian Hare, Patagonian Cavy, Mara, and Dillaby. They are also sometimes referred to as ‘God’s Joke’, because he didn’t know if he was making a rabbit or a kangaroo. Kind of an odd body shape with very stick-ly legs, but they are very good at what they do. This species is an excellent digger, can run over 18 mph and can jump 6 ft into the air. So we never want them getting out because we would absolutely never catch them.
This is a social animal, they are usually found in communal groups and have been known to help raise each other’s young. They are native to the Patagonian area of South America. Found throughout Argentina and a little bit of Chile, they prefer to be in the grassy highlands.
We received our two from a local sanctuary that was running out of herd space, so they gave us two boys. One of them turned out to be quite the bully, so he has to stay in a cage with our other resident bully, Henrietta (Muscovy Duck). The other one made friends with Jasper our Crab-eating Raccoon for whatever reason. We don’t make the rules.