Colorado Resident Out on a Bike Ride Stumbles Across a Rodent Native to South America

A Colorado resident out enjoying a bike ride stumbled across something he'd never seen before, and something most of us have never even heard of. Accuweather shared a video on Saturday, July 6th that the Colorado man recorded when a rabbit-like rodent stopped him in his tracks while he was riding his bike in Lakewood, and it's worth checking out!

In the video, he's recording the rodent who is scared and frozen in place. He says that it looks like a rabbit and it kind of does! It turns to run off as he tries to get closer, stating that it also looks like a deer. He's completely stumped by what he's seeing!

Accuweather commenters were just as surprised and left more than 2,000 comments about the odd-looking animal. @Cody Morgan shared, "It’s a female Jackalope!" @SMTTT made me laugh with, "Thumper and Bambi got some 'splaining to do." And I tend to agree with @Crittersandmore who pointed out, "It was a pet no doubt." 

Related: Hungry Bear in Colorado Totally Destroys Car in Attempt to Get Some Candy

Facts About Patagonian Maras

I couldn't help but laugh at @db's comment because he said exactly what I was thinking, "That’s a Patagonian Mara cuz I read the caption." While we now know the strange looking rodent's name, if you're like me, it probably didn't help explain anything about it since I'd never heard of it before! I thought I'd do some quick research to learn more about the animal.

Surprisingly, Pet Helpful lists them as one of the rarest and unique exotic pets you can own, "The Patagonian mara is one of the largest rodents in the world, and they resemble and occupy a similar niche to deer in the wild. Maras are excellent jumpers, and they should be housed outdoors. They should have a diet similar to guinea pigs, to which they are closely related. This means they require supplemental vitamin C." Another Pet Helpful article says that they are, "often considered one of the ‘easier’ exotic animals to care for if you are prepared to house it in an indoor-outdoor setting."

Patagonian maras weigh 17-35 pounds when they are fully grown, so they're not big animals even though they're the world's largest rodent...they're about the size of a medium sized dog. Interestingly, they're closest living relative is the guinea pig. They can also be fed the same things guinea pigs eat.

While you can keep them as pets, that doesn't mean they make good ones for everybody. Because they are rodents, they are chewers. They also like to dig and will try to dig at your carpet and flooring. They're jumpers and they're quick; they have powerful hind legs and can jump horizontally, up to 7 feet and run up to 27 miles an hour! That's a speedy pet and one you probably wouldn't be able to catch if it got out which might explain how the mara ended up out there on its own.

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