So. The Capybara is a giant mouse/rodent from Brazil. These guys are big for mice, bigger than a dog.

Hamsters and gerbils and other little rodents have those running wheels they run on as a toy when you have them as pets.

Someone ought to hire a welder/shop guy and build a giant running wheel for these giant mice.

It would be epic. A giant mouse on a giant running wheel.
-- EdwinBakery, Oct 26 2011

for bobsleds too... Bobsledmill
[swimswim, Oct 26 2011, last modified Oct 28 2011]

Giant Hamster http://www.youtube....watch?v=_d0nBcQyeBA
[DIYMatt, Oct 27 2011]

Such wheels for use by dogs are Baked, and have been in use for hundreds of your Earth years.

Capybara prefer swimming to running.

We suggest that this idea is not an innovation as such.
-- 8th of 7, Oct 26 2011


wow, 8th of 7, you're right. I didn't know that, just googled it.

Hell, I want to run in a giant running wheel now.

Anyway, it would still be awesome to see a giant mouse in a giant running wheel.
-- EdwinBakery, Oct 26 2011


We suggest that the" giant mouse" effect can be more quickly and cheaply achieved by appropriate use of a perfectly ordinary mouse and a carefully chosen assemblage of optical lenses.

Or perhaps just stand a lot closer.
-- 8th of 7, Oct 26 2011


Why don't you let your Capybara run on a treadmill like a normal person?
-- DIYMatt, Oct 26 2011


They had a giant wheel (made of wood - open sides and a solid "rim", all sitting on rollers) at somewhere I went years ago with MaxwellBuchanan Junior.

The starting is easy. The stopping, less so.
-- MaxwellBuchanan, Oct 26 2011


The traditional way to exercise capybaras is to ride a horse after them and whack them with a big stick.

Seriously, some South American Catholics regard capybaras as fish, since they live in water, and eat them during Lent. Since Lent is in the dry season, the fishing is done on horseback, across solid ground, with clubs.
-- baconbrain, Oct 26 2011


[bb], for that gem of a factoid, we bestow upon you our unreserved grattitude.
-- 8th of 7, Oct 26 2011


Capybaras as fish? You're having a laff.
-- methinksnot, Oct 26 2011


Wikipedia: During Lent, capybara meat is especially popular in parts of South America, especially in Venezuela, as it is claimed that the Catholic Church, in a special dispensation, allowed capybara meat to be consumed on days that consumption of meat was otherwise not allowed. There are differing accounts of how the dispensation arose.

The Sun: Centuries ago, the Vatican ruled that these furry cousins of rats and mice native to South America's plains qualify as fish - paving the way for capybara feasts during Lent, when red meat is prohibited.

Capyfacts: In Venezuela, the Catholic Church allows people to eat capybaras during Lent, when usually only fish may be eaten.

Video I saw at the gym: Galloping horseman looming over the camera, swinging a club. Cut to black.
-- baconbrain, Oct 26 2011


There's at least one welder-type guy who used to raise rabbits for meat and built two 40" diameter exercise wheels for his bunnies, who loved them. I suppose a swimming/hopping semi-aquatic rodent wheel of unusual proportions wouldn't be too much of a challenge for him.
-- Alterother, Oct 27 2011


Question: what effect does exercise have on the quality of the meat ?

Kobe beef relies on the animals getting very little exercise.
-- 8th of 7, Oct 27 2011


No effect whatsoever. Rabbits need exercise or they die, and the meat is tough as hell anyway. For stir fry, broiling, or deep-frying, you have to beat the hell out of it or marinate it for at least two days. This is one reason that various stews are your more common rabbit recipes.
-- Alterother, Oct 27 2011


And the bone-to-meat ratio in rabbits is not in favor of the chef or diner.
-- swimswim, Oct 27 2011


Not in wild rabbits, giants, and show breeds. I raised Californians and New Zealands, which have been bred to hang more muscle than they really need, thus another good reason to exercise them when young.
-- Alterother, Oct 27 2011


Since they are semi-aquatic should it not be a water wheel?
-- 2 fries shy of a happy meal, Oct 27 2011


// a swimming/hopping semi-aquatic rodent wheel of unusual proportions //

I envision a lexan-walled sluice-like wheel with raised sections of the track that the capybara must hop across, while the water flows through ducts underneath.
-- Alterother, Oct 27 2011


Some day soon, perhaps my "puppy mill" idea can be properly resurrected to the shower of buns it truly deserves...

but not today.
-- ye_river_xiv, Oct 28 2011


//Seriously, some South American Catholics regard capybaras as fish, since they live in water, and eat them during Lent//
How do the capybara know it is Lent and therefore safe to eat the water-dwelling Latino left-footers?
-- TolpuddleSartre, Oct 28 2011


Being aquatic, they have evolved an extraordinary sensetivity to tidal forces and therefore to the position of your moon, which allows them to precisely calculate the date of Easter.
-- 8th of 7, Oct 28 2011


The tides!
Of course!
I thought it was going to be one of those "r-in-the-month" thingies.
-- TolpuddleSartre, Oct 28 2011


No, that's Werewolves. Or maybe Vampires.
-- 8th of 7, Oct 28 2011


Are capybaras smart enough to run on a wheel? They look pretty stupid.
-- doctorremulac3, Oct 28 2011


Why not go all the way? Ferris wheel sized exercise wheel, powered by elephants.
-- phundug, Oct 28 2011


Whales. Teams of them. Could also solve Japan's energy problem.
-- MaxwellBuchanan, Oct 28 2011



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