Largest Rodent Found Dead In Ohio [View All]

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SPRINGFIELD, Ohio --An elusive kangaroo-like animal that was on the run in west-central Ohio for nearly two weeks was found dead along a rural road, the apparent victim of a hit-and-run driver.

Clark County Sheriff Gene Kelly said the animal, a Patagonian cavy, was found along state Route 41 southeast of Springfield on Monday.

Much of Clark County had been on a round-the-clock cavy watch after a woman reported seeing the long-legged animal, the world's second-largest rodent and a native of South America, hopping along her street in South Charleston on Sept. 21.

Live traps were baited with bits of melon, but the cavy remained free.

Kelly was close enough to throw a blanket over the elusive critter one night last week but didn't know how to proceed. Kelly said he didn't want to just throw himself -- at 185 pounds -- on the animal that stood about 3 feet tall and weighed about 30 pounds.

When he hesitated, the cavy got away.

But Kelly, who was skeptical about the sightings at first, became a believer.

"It didn't run away; it sprang away," Kelly said. "It did, for all of the world, look just like a kangaroo bounding away, its head bobbing up every now and then from the soybean field."

The cavy had escaped from an exotic animal farm whose owner hasn't been identified by authorities.

The cavy's carcass was turned over to him, Kelly said.

Springfield is about 43 miles west of Columbus.

http://www.boston.com/news/odd/articles/2005/10/05/large_elusive_rodent_found_dead_in_ohio?mode=PF