Wednesday, September 10, 2008

Education Building at the Detroit Zoo

This is a beautiful new building at the Zoo, but I've never been
inside it. Whenever I go to the zoo, I want to see the animals. I've
also included another view of the Bear Fountain at the Zoo.

5 comments:

goda said...

I miss the building in Detroit the good ones such awesome architecture

Kris McCracken said...

Is that a capybara? I’ve always wondered what they taste like...

Marie said...

What is that animal? I have never seen one like that! Kris seems to suggest that you eat them??????

Mary Stebbins Taitt said...

Detroit does have pretty awesome architecture!!!! Really cool.

Yes, it's a capybara and edible, but I've never eaten one.

Here's what Wikipedia has to say: Capybaras are gentle and will usually allow humans to pet and hand-feed them. Capybara skin is tough, and thus in some areas where capybaras are wild, they are hunted for meat and their skin, which is turned into a high-quality leather,[8] while some ranchers hunt them for fear of the competition for grazing. The meat is said to both look and taste like pork.[4] The Capybara meat is dried and salted, then shredded and seasoned.[22] Considered a delicacy, it is often served with rice and plantains.[23] [24]

During the Christian celebration of Lent, capybara meat is especially popular as it is claimed that the Catholic church, in a special dispensation, classified the animal as a fish in the 16th century. There are differing accounts of how the dispensation arose. The most cited refers to a group of 16th Century missionaries who made a request which implied that the semi-aquatic capybara might be a fish and also hinted that there would be an issue with starvation if the animal wasn't classified as suitable for lent.

Mary Stebbins Taitt said...

It seems mean to eat soemthing that is tame and friendly.