LeRoy Garcia, age 11, of Dallas, Texas, for his question:
What is a guinea pig?
The Guinea Coast is along the west of Africa. Old sailing ships plied a busy trade between Guinea and the countries of Europe. The masters of these trading vessels were called Guineamen. In the 16th Century the Guinea cargos included some chubby little animals never seen in Europe before. It was assumed that the Guineamen brought them from Guinea. The furry animals were fat as pigs and they often grunted like pigs. This explains how a Guinea pig came to be called a guinea pig.
Actually the little fellow is not a native of Guinea and he is not related to a pig. He is a South American, a native of the wild uplands of the Andes. He belongs to the family of rodents which makes him cousin to the beaver and the bunny.
The children of the 16th Century Europe were charmed by the little visitors and gazed at them with starry eyes. They knew at once what wonderful pets the little darlings would make. They were small, soft and gentle. Their coats were made for cuddling and who could resist watching those fascinating noses as the little charmers minced and nibbled their food?
The children naturally were right. The guinea pigs made wonderful pets. Being vegetarians, they thrived on a diet of leaves and bran. They were very happy to be treated like their cousins the bunnies.
These first guinea pig pets were chestnut colored or greyish brown. The fur may have been long or short, firm or silky. For all wild guinea pigs were like this and these were taken from the wild. The biggest may have been a foot long. Each had a pair of small round ears, four short legs, two bright eyes and a set of whiskers to set off his fascinating nose.
Some smartie started a rumor that a guinea pig's eyes drop out when you lift him by the tail. Hal hal a guinea pig has no tail ‑ not even a small one.
Those first guinea pigs were taken from South America to Guinea and then shipped to Europe. In his native home, the little fellow is called a cavy. He is a night feeder ands burrow builder. In the wild, Mrs. Cavy has two babies at a babies at a time. The youngsters are lively balls of fur. They start out looking for food the very day they come into the world.
The guinea pigs enjoyed being adopted by the human family. In captivity they changed. Mama had more babies, bigger litters more often. The pets gave up their drab coats for more ornate apparel. Most of them now wear two colors in striking blotches and patches. The colors may be black, white, pearl grey, honey or brown.
The Age of Science discovered the guinea pig to be a useful laboratory animal. He is used for experiments in hereditary and with certain bacteria Countless numbers live and die for medicine. But do not feel sad, these experimental animals are tended as carefully as pets. You may be quite sure they are not allowed to suffer.