Comments on: Patagonian Mara of Carolina

By: maeko

maeko — Fri, 22 May 2009 18:38:45 +0000

Yes, I remember the Summerville incident from the Post and Courier. They escaped. Neighbors help wrangle them up, I think.

I have not heard of the Aiken or Savannah ones. I don’t think that SC Department of Natural Resources would be very thrilled, though.

By: cryptidsrus

cryptidsrus — Fri, 22 May 2009 17:11:38 +0000

Cute critters.

Sounds to me like yet another set of escaped pets. Although if there is a colony of them somewhere near Aiken, I have no problem with that.

Rogutaan: “Jackalopes” have antlers. Maras do not.

By: Thermite

Thermite — Fri, 22 May 2009 14:39:01 +0000

According to what I’ve read they can live up to 15 years and usually mate for life with 1-3 offspring per year. They could make a nice little colony within a few years I would assume with figures like that but not on the scale of rabbits.

Would be interesting to see how much they can consume, damage in the environment. They usually use ready made burrows so would also be interesting to see what other native wildlife can supply them with on this subject.

Jas

By: mystery_man

mystery_man — Fri, 22 May 2009 12:52:53 +0000

Flame821- Patagonian maras reach sizes of around 16kg, or 35.5 lbs, and 75cm, or about 2.5 feet in length. They typically live around 5 to 7 years in the wild, and up to 10 years in captivity.

I’m not sure of the situation with the trade of Patagonian maras in South Carolina, but although these animals are generally on the decline in their native range, they do quite well in captivity. They are easy to raise and breed quite readily. It would not surprise me at all if someone was keeping these as pets and a few escaped. There is no reason to suspect they wouldn’t do quite well for themselves in the habitat of South Carolina.

By: Rogutaan

Rogutaan — Fri, 22 May 2009 01:08:35 +0000

Hmm, might this be what is behind the story of the Jackolope?

By: flame821

flame821 — Thu, 21 May 2009 23:41:18 +0000

Wow

It does kind of look like a rabbit with a deer’s head sans antlers. How large does this animal grow to be? And do they breed as easily as rabbits?

I assume (yes, I know, never a good thing to do) that its life expectancy isn’t 5 years. So is there a good chance that this animal is now moving in or simply an escaped pet with luck on its side. I imagine an out of place rodent could cause a great deal of havoc if they have a breeding population.