Viscacha or vizcacha (pronounced vi-skah-chuh)
A gregarious
burrowing hystricomorph rodent (Lagostomus maximus), of the genera Lagidium and
Lagostomus, within family Chinchillidae, about the size of a groundhog,
inhabiting the pampas of Paraguay and Argentina and allied to the smaller chinchilla,
also from the family Chinchillidae. It’s
known also at the mountain viscacha, a related rodent of the genus Lagidium (of
the Andes), about the size of a squirrel, having rabbit-like ears and a
squirrel-like tail.
1595–1605: From the Spanish viscacha from Quechua wisk’acha or Quechuan wiskácha. The Spanish Quechua is from qhichwa (literally “temperate valley”). With use depending on prevailing practice, both the spellings viscacha & vizcacha are used in various branches of biology and zoology, the older alternatives biscacha, biscacho & bizcacha now rare except in historic citation. The noun plural is viscachas and the derived term is viscachera (plural viscacheras) which describes a warren inhabited by viscachas.
Vizcacha moments: Time for the world weary to take a nap; Lindsay Lohan (left) joining a viscacha (right) in a yawn.
The viscachas
or vizcachas, of which there are five extant species, are rodents of
the genera (Lagidium and Lagostomus) within the family Chinchillidae. Native to South America, despite looking
similar to rabbits or hares, they’re not related to either and are thus of
interest to evolutionary biologists because they’re an example of convergent
evolution. When biologists first saw the
viscacha they noted the question of heritage: mammals part of the Leporidae
family (rabbit) or the Chinchillidae family (Chinchilla)? Sharing the large ears, powerful hind legs,
and small front paws, Vizcachas do bear a striking resemblance to the rabbit
family but are distinguished by their long bushy tail, a trait unique to the
Chinchillidae family. Helpful for
biologists as a species indicator, for the small rodent, it’s a marker of their
state of mind, the tail is extended when distressed and curled when at ease.
Residing
throughout southern and western South America, they tend to stay close to their
underground burrows but possess surprising dexterity as climbers, able
to jump from rock to rock so effortlessly and with such alacrity observers
report their progress is hard to track with the naked eye. They live in colonies that can be barely a
dozen or number in the hundreds and have acquired an extensive repertoire of
vocalizations used in social interactions. Small they may be but Vizcachas are voluble
and, belying their sleepy appearance, are noted for their gregarious behavior.
Up to
two feet (.6 m) in length and weighing typically around 3.5 lbs (1.6 kg),
Vizcachas are relatively large by rodent standards but are small compared to
their carnivorous neighbors, the Puma and Culpeo Fox. These two are fierce predators but the fast,
agile Vizcacha has the advantage of inhabiting a mountainous environment
littered with boulders and rocks which is difficult hunting ground so doesn’t
suffer greatly from predation induced population decline. The main threat is humans, less from the habitat
loss which threatens some species but because of illegal hunting for their meat
and fur, luxury items in some markets.
There
are spiritual traditions in which exists the concept of the spirit animal, a
creature the spirit of which is said to help guide or protect a person on a
journey and the characteristics of which that person shares or embodies. The apparently ancient concept is prominent
in a number of indigenous (notably Native American) religions and cultures and
was embraced by Pagan and Wiccan communities as recently as the 1990s and the term totem was sometimes used. Totem was from the Native North American Ojibwe ᑑᑌᒼ or ᑑᑌᒻ (doodem) and referred to a sacred object, symbol or spirit and in a sense can be thought of as the equivalent of a flag (in the case of a tribe) or coat of arms (in the case of a clan). The word totem became widely used by anthropologists when discussing cultural practices in many places (and not just in North America). In academic use where it's a neutral descriptor this is usually not controversial but in general use it can be a form of cultural misappropriation. In the West, the idea of spirit animals was picked up in the weird world of the new age, dolphins and other charismatic creatures predictably popular. The concept turned out also to have appeal to some among the less spiritual who adopted the viscacha as their spirit animal because there is seemingly no living thing on earth with an appearance which so encapsulates the qualities of the melancholic, world-weariness and the need to take a nap.
Vizcacha
moments: Jiang Zemin (1926–2022; General Secretary of the Chinese Communist
Party (CCP) (and thus paramount leader) 1989-2002 & President of the People's
Republic of China (PRC) 1993-2003), yawning (left) and resting his eyes (right) during one of the less
interesting speeches delivered as part of the otherwise riveting proceedings of
the nineteenth congress of the CCP, Beijing, October 2017. Western diplomats noted that, unusually among those in the senior echelon of the CCP, Mr Jiang could at times seem almost "exuberant" (a contrast to his two more dour successors) but in retirement he may have adopted the viscacha as his spirit animal, the creature quite suited to his more somnolent lifestyle.
One can
understand Mr Jiang taking a moment to rest his eyes during the congress. After half a lifetime in politics, some of it
in the era when “a fatal error” was not a figurative phrase, he’d probably
heard it all before and could sense when he could “tune out” for a
while. Cases have often been documented of
those for whom continued attention becomes just too much and one who caused more
vizcacha moments than most was Adolf Hitler (1889-1945; Führer (leader) and
German head of government 1933-1945 & head of state 1934-1945) whose
repetitive and seemingly endless monologues (touching discursively on subjects
such as art, architecture, dog breeding, artificial honey, the church,
philosophy and vegetarianism) came to be dreaded by almost all compelled to sit and endure a session. Count Galeazzo Ciano (1903–1944;
Italian foreign minister 1936-1943 (and the son-in-law of Benito Mussolini who
ordered his execution)) was, like us all, a flawed character but he had a
diarist’s eye and in his entries left some of the most vivid recollections of
the World War II era. In the Austrian
city of Salzburg in May, 1942 he attended a series of meetings along with Benito Mussolini (1883-1945; Duce (leader) & Prime-Minister of Italy
1922-1943) and the two senior figures from the OKW (Oberkommando der Wehrmacht
(the German military's high command)), Generalfeldmarschall (Field Marshal) Wilhelm Keitel
(1882–1946; chief of OKW 1938-1945) and Generaloberst (Colonel General) Alfred
Jodl (1890–1946, chief of the OKW operations staff 1939-1945), noting in his
diary one “epic
struggle”:
“Hitler talks,
talks, talks, talks. Mussolini
suffers—he, who is in the habit of talking himself, and who, instead,
practically has to keep quiet. On the
second day, after lunch, when everything had been said, Hitler talked uninterruptedly for an
hour and forty minutes. He omitted absolutely
no argument: war and peace, religion and philosophy, art and history. Mussolini automatically looked at his wrist
watch, I had my mind on my own business, and only Cavallero, who is a phenomenon of servility, pretended he was
listening in ecstasy, continually nodding
his head in approval. Those, however,
who dreaded the ordeal less than we did were the Germans. Poor people. They have to take it every day, and I am
certain there isn’t a gesture, a word, or a pause which they don’t know by
heart. General Jodl, after an epic struggle,
finally went to sleep on the divan. Keitel was reeling, but he succeeded in
keeping his head up. He was too close to
Hitler to let himself go as he would have liked to do.”
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