There is an animal in this picture. Can you see it?
You saw it? Well, just in case, here’s a close up of the same view:
We saw this mammal during an expedition in the southwest corner of Bolivia. We were exploring the ghost town of San Antonio de Lípez, in Potosi department. Our first reaction was: “Look! A bunny rabbit!” I mean, doesn’t it look like a rabbit?
But after taking a few pictures, we realized that it couldn’t possibly be a rabbit. Do you see that tail?
Rabbits don’t have tails like squirrels! Later we asked our Bolivian guides about them and were told this is the viscacha (Lagidium viscacia). They are herbivore rodents, in the family Chinchillidae, so they are closely related to chinchillas. There are five known species of viscachas and this one is commonly called the Southern Viscacha or the Mountain Viscacha.
The viscachas have a thick soft coat with a yellow and grey coloring with a darker colored tail. They have large furry ears fringed with white fur, and all four of their paws have four toes. In general, except for their tail, they are similar in appearance to rabbits.
They are very common from southern Peru, down through Bolivia and into northern Chile and western Argentina. But only in areas at a high altitude, from about 8,000 to 16,800 feet (2,500 to 5,100 meters) above sea level. When we saw these viscachas, we were at about 14,400ft or 4,400 meters.
What do you think: What is their natural habitat? Well, if you haven’t figured it out yet, then take a look at one more picture:
So what do all these pictures have in common? That’s right! Rocks! They inhabit rugged rocky mountain areas as well as rock outcrops in flatter areas. That made the rocky ruins of this ghost town a perfect lair for the viscacha.
So what do you think of the ‘squirrel bunny’?
If they are herbivores, what in the world do they eat while living in a bunch of rocks?
ReplyDeleteJust thinkin'.
Good question. There isn't much out there, but it isn't a total wasteland. With the exception of one of the photos above, they were all taken inside an old building that had collapsed inward. In the photo which is the exception you can see there is vegetation growing in the area.
DeleteThe following comment was posted on the Spanish language version: "It is so cute, is it big? Trying to compare the rocks and the rabbit/squirel 8) (viscacha) my guess they are bigger than what we see rabbits here in California. Are the friendly?"
ReplyDeleteThese were bigger than any rabbit I have seen. And it is hard to say if they are friendly or not. They are timid, and moved away as we tried to get closer for a picture. Being in the picture with one was out of the question. But I hardly think they are aggressive or dangerous. I mean... they're so cute!