Amongst our recent intake of exciting exotics are Martin and Sarah our South American Agoutis and today, 9th June 2023 marks one year since they arrived here at White Post Farm.

These rodents are related to guinea pigs but with much larger and longer legs and are all round amazing animals indeed. They can actually grow up to 50cm in length! The scientific name, Dasyprocta Azarae literally translates to hairy bottom, which is very appropriate for these fantastic furry friends!

Since arriving from Folly Farm in Pembrokeshire, they have settled in really well. They currently live with our Blue and Yellow macaw Missy and our Military macaw Mico just outside the Silver Barn. It definitely took them some time to gain confidence but patience and care from our animal team has meant they have become increasingly comfortable and confident with their surroundings. They have a great appetite and a varied diet full of fruits, vegetables, nuts and greens as well as fresh browse harvested from around the farm. Their absolute favourite is Brazil nuts. They love them and they are literally built to eat them. In fact impressively, they are the only animals capable of cracking the hard outer shell of the Brazil nut with our powerful teeth and jaws.

Now they are happy and settled here at the farm we have been able to learn their individual personalities. Farmer Tom, who works closely with the Agoutis, says that Martin and Sarah are very different to each other. he has loved working with them and is excited for some changes on the way soon:-

“Sarah is very confident. Almost too confident. She is definitely the feisty one of the two! Martin is very shy and laid back in comparison. They love their food and Sarah is so confident she is always happy to be fed by hand. When they first arrived Sarah would raise her heckles (the hairs on her back) just like our resident porcupine, Fiddich, to let us know that she was in charge. We’ve definitely gained her trust now and she no longer does it! We love seeing them display their natural wild behaviour which is a really good sign. They often bury nuts around their enclosure, exactly as they would in their territory in the wild. It is not long until they will be moving out from their enclosure with their noisy parrot neighbours into to a large outdoor enclosure next door to our giant African Sulcata Tortoises”

You can see Martin and Sarah the Agoutis every day here at the farm. We can’t wait to keep you updated on their move as soon as it happens.

The White Post Team.