1969 School Magazine

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been found buried with the mummies in the tombs of the Incas. They were domesticated bV the Indians of Peru, Ecuador and Columbia well before the arrival of 'the Spaniards in the sixteenth century. Guinea pigs were b.pt for their meat ( not unlike the iafibi,t ), and were_prized as a delictcy. Their inroduction ilto Furope frorn Ameriia bV the Spaniards was for this same Pu!: por" Today thef are found in abundance in all puttt of the worid, but fortun ately ,lt.V are now tut.ty eaten, but kept as pets of used as valuable "*p.ti*ental subjects in medical and bioloeical ;;.rr.t, No doubt you are familiar with the ;d65g-;;g,rit.u pig" ai applied to a person' This ilem; fr6m the^ fact thal they are used and are ii;;i s.tti.cts for experimentaiion as their.docile, iti."ait-lli;tosition lnakes them easy to handle' Howev.r ih.ir use in the laboratory has dimin- irf*a. $. i; the simple fact that they do not ;ffi;.;-Lro.tgh off-spring. H.aqsters, mice and irUUi6-have t"rk.tr oulr tfie role because they re- ;;;a;;e-- astronomicallv. Th. molsg, in twelve inontht, can produce five thousand times as many off-spring as the CavY. Having delved deeply into the background of our neur pet, we set about getting to know ou1 guinea pig as ^rL individual and on examination decided that vle had a little female. Cavies are gregarious animals and ule soon realised that this ii-ia fittle creature was lonely and fretting' Naturally this called for a companion' Of the various breeds of Cavies, the dis- tinguishing characteristics are mainly in the length and texture of the hair, which may vary from very harsh and rough to a luxurious, smooth, silken coat. The length may be short-cropped of long and flowing. The three combinations of hair characteristics produce three hair classifications. The long, ,*ooth hair of the Angor ^ or Peruvian, the short smooth hair of the English or Bolivian, and the rough hair of the Abyssinian. It was obvious that our pqt with her ruffled fur, forming .rosettes and odd whorls ( similar to that of a wire terrier's fur ), belonged to the Abyssinian breed. In our search to chooSe our second guinea- pig we became acqgainted with the wide selection of- colours within the more popular types and finally settled for a short-haired, tan and white

Living as we do on a busY highwaY, the suitable animal pet seemed an almost unsurmountable problem, until my brother pfe- ,o,*d ; ;ilt, black and 'tan ball of rough fur our first guinea Pig. The scientific name for our furry friend is Cavia cutleri or more commonly, resdess Cavy' To innoduce our pet properly, let me - point out *rt- [. ir "rt a pi;, but i member of the Rodent O;J.;- in"ienti; Simpticidenta ) .rld. ..Lorqlv re- hi"J to lti. p";;upine and the chinchilla in the ;;;;;f tif". - l"r, td confuse the issue still further, ;h;*rt.-ir .alled a boar, the female is a sow and il;;t rn"J; rq,r.tl gt'grunf like his name-sake. !f=.t., 'hlir.u*, endt the similarity,.. as while the pig enioys waliowing in dirt. and filth, ,hq Cavy ffi*dupr the cleanelt animal in the world. The guinea pig is classified under the Phylum Chord ata ( with- ipine ) and - nufses its young aM;nlht^ Eutheria ). Tg describe him more Jidt; rh. .r"v is a small animal scarcely bigger ;!ffi '^' ,^t-. fir. two sexes ^re much alike, about "i"" i*h.r long and weighiqs about two ;;;;d;:- fh*- bo""t is usually rlryh4v larger .thaq ;h" ;;br.J-;;;. ttt. ears are naked, rounded and *1*1l;;ty tt"uti. The fore feet have four toes, the hi"d f..t only three ( Gavia Qe4us ), 3p toes are ;r*.J-*ith;bro"d claws, and he walks on the ."tit tol. und pti*. The legs are-short, the body ri""t, roJ ;h; iread large- witfr a blunt nose. He h;;.f,it"i-fk; ii""t te"eth which resemble their io*tt tt""lt;p&; and thus he sna\I/s his food' An interesting characteristic of the Ctuy is that th.t" is no external tail. ( Cavid?" Family ), Jrh"Gh- there ate seven caudal vertebrae, bg+.S the standard iok. to tell the new breeder, "Pick I;i* ;p bv hii tail and his eyes fall out." There is considerable speculation as to the origin t"d history of the Cavl'. He did not come f;;il- tf .ottt of Guinea, \ff/est Africa, South American Guiana nor New Guinea, but is a native ;f til western part of South America Peru in ;;fti."l"r. The grisigal cavy of the Andes Moun- tains is -a g1izzled btov/n - animal, that lives in U"*"*t o, "ro.L crevices and feeds upon almost ;; f.i"a-"f ".e.1rb1.. srild cavies breed gnlv once a t.ui-and"only one or two young ate born at a time. The cavy is believed to be onb of the earliest animalt i9- L" ao*esticated by man. Remains have choice -of ;

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