'It's no different to having a dog or cat': The Texas couple who share their home with an EIGHT-STONE capybara named Gary... and even let him sleep in their bed

Published: 12:26 EDT, 21 June 2013 | Updated: 04:34 EDT, 22 June 2013

114

Top +99 Home Home

114

Finding an eight-stone rodent on the couch would see most people racing for the phone to dial pest control.

But it's a daily occurrence for Melanie Typaldos, 57 and her husband Richard Loveman, 54, who share their home in Buda, Texas, with a giant capybara named Gary.

Ms Typaldos adopted Gary after falling in love with the semi-aquatic mammals - the world's largest rodent - during a holiday in Venezuela, and she and her husband are so fond of their bizarre pet they even let him sleep in their bed.

Scroll down for video

'Athough some people might find it strange, it's really no different than having a dog or a cat,' said Ms Typaldos, who installed a pool in her backyard for Gary to cool off in.

TRENDING

Geraldo Rivera reveals 'toxic relationship' with Fox co-host 4.3k viewing now Hollywood grinds to a halt as world's biggest stars vote to strike 3.7k viewing now Texas v. Biden: TODD BENSMAN's dispatch from the militarized border 1.5k viewing now

'Gary is really very smart and he's very affectionate.

'He comes when he's called and he likes to sleep with me,' she added.

Ms Typaldos adopted the capybara from an owner who was no longer able to care for him, and said the cuddly eight-stone creature quickly became a part of the family.

The 57-year-old even claims to have taught Gary to perform tricks.

'He learns tricks very quickly - faster than your typical dog would,' she said.

'He knows how to shake, how to turn in a circle, how to stand up on his hind legs and how to jump up on things on command.'

In their natural habitat, capybaras spend most of their time in the water - so Melanie installed a giant pool in her garden to make Gary feel at home.

He was also introduced to the animal lover's menagerie of other pets; including a horse, rabbits tortoises, dogs and a cat.

She said: 'He gets on well with the other animals, although he likes to chase the rabbits for fun.

'He does sometimes get angry with the tortoises because he thinks they invade his space and there is nothing he can do about it.'

Part of the family: Gary is seen left ready for a trip in the car, and right enjoying a cuddle with Flopsy the cat

Ms Typaldos takes Gary, who lives on a diet of grass, to visit pupils at schools around Buda to help educate the children about different animals.

She said: 'Most people don't know what a capybara is but as soon as they see him, they want to come pet him and feed him treats.

'He loves the attention,' she added.

Despite her affection for her pet, Ms Typaldos warned that capybaras were not your standard domestic pet.

'Capybaras can be quite aggressive sometimes and their teeth are very, very sharp,' she said.

'Gary is not at all aggressive, but a capybara bite can be pretty serious.'

But she added of Gary: 'He gives you that same sort of companionship and affection that other animals do - I can't imagine life without him.'

DALLAS, TX (KSLA) - An East Texas woman who delivered quintuplets earlier this week says she and her husband were not expecting five when she got pregnant.

"We thought maybe twins could come from it but never five," Michelle Seals of Maud, TX said at a press conference Thursday. "We knew early on there would be multiples. Every time we had a sonogram, they would find more."

Seals has had several miscarriages in the past and had a problem keeping pregnancies. Though she gets pregnant very easily, she said doctors felt that she wasn't producing good, mature eggs.

But the babies are here: Mia (2 lbs., 10 oz.), Tessa (2 lbs. 14 oz.), Brant (3 lbs. 6 oz.), Gracie (2 lbs. 7 oz.) and Rayleigh (2 lbs. 8 oz.) made their world debut via cesarean section Tuesday at Baylor University Medical Center in Dallas.

She said they wanted to keep the babies' names special and family oriented.

"There was a 2 percent chance of having twins, hah! What a surprise," Steven Seals, 32, said.

He's looking at the financial impact of having 50 new toes and 50 new little fingers in their home, along with son Brady, who is 2 years old.

"We're not sure if Michelle will be able to return to work or not when we get home," he said.

Michelle Seals, 33, had taken very low dosages of fertility drugs, but no procedures done to elicit pregnancies.

For now, the babies will remain in the hospital. All but Rayleigh have been on breathing machines, though their lungs all seem to be reasonably mature, said Dr. Vijay Nama, director of neonatology at Baylor.

And mom, who is recovering, has two arms full of security bracelets, which link babies to their parents. She is also still at Baylor for now.

"They say Rayleigh is pretty feisty," she said, adding that mom and dad haven't yet been able to hold the babies. "I can't wait to get my hands on them."

The quintuplets will probably stay in the hospital for 6 to 7 weeks, Nama said. He would like for them to first start eating two feedings per day, and later on to breastfeed and drink from bottles.

She said twins or triplets may be easier than five, but the more the merrier.

"I really believe the more you get, the more you're blessed," she said. "God won't give you anything that you can't handle. Just lean on God. We had lots of prayer to get us through this."

But there are no more children in sight for the Texas couple.

"This is it, no more!" Michelle Seals said. "Half a dozen is plenty for us."

Copyright 2014 KSLA. All rights reserved.

A Texas couple missed out on over $100 million after they decided to make their home a nature preserve instead of expanding their property.

Ronnie and Terry Urbanczyk purchased their ranch and 245 acres of land in Hill Country 30 years ago, Texas Monthly reported. The land is just next to the Honey Creek State Natural Area, a 2,300-acre nature preserve in Comal County known for having one of the most pristine waterways in the state. The water provides for about 2 million people in Texas.

Eventually, the couple decided to propose plans to build more properties on the 515-acre ranch as the Hill Country population started expanding. The $125 million that would come from the development would leave their children a hefty inheritance.

Other residents were not fans of the idea, though, expressing concern that the water of the Honey Creek State Natural Area would be affected by the development. It has a delicate ecosystem that they feared would be disrupted in the midst of property development.

SUBSCRIBE NOW FROM JUST $1 >

It is also believed to be one of the last wild places in Texas.

The plans for the development dragged on for years, according to Texas Monthly, until last week when Texas Parks and Wildlife announced it would purchase the Urbanczyks' ranch for $25 million in order to preserve the land.

"Together with the adjacent Guadalupe River State Park, these protected lands encompass nearly 5,000 acres of habitat that sustain plants and wildlife, benefit water quality and provide opportunities for people to spend time in nature," Rodney Franklin, Texas State Parks director, said in a statement.

SIGN UP FOR NEWSWEEK’S EMAIL UPDATES >

The department eventually plans to open the land to the public.

Terry Urbanczyk told Texas Monthly that they had not been aware making the area a reserve was an option.

"We were not aware that making it a park would be a possibility unless you just donate the land, which we couldn't do," she said.

The land holds a lot of memories for the family, said Ronnie Urbanczyk.

"And now the people in Texas are gonna get to really enjoy it for the next thousand years," he said. "Right now we've got a great retirement place that sits on top of the hill that overlooks the state natural area. It's nice to look out there and know it's all I'm ever gonna see. That's a pretty big thing."

Their kids and grandchildren also loved the idea. When asked "What do you guys think about making Honey Creek a state park," they all expressed excitement, Ronnie said.

Newsweek reached out to Ronnie and Terry Urbanczyk for comment.

Do you have an animal or nature story to share with Newsweek? Do you have a question about this story? Let us know via nature@newsweek.com.

"(Flying) is a very unforgiving business. When you make a mistake here, you are very fortunate to live through them."

SAN ANTONIO — In the fall of 2018, a fairytale wedding had barely ended when a helicopter crash killed the bride, groom and pilot who were on-board. Nearly two years later, KENS 5 has obtained documents explaining why the helicopter went down.

November 3, 2018: Will and Bailee Byler had just had the night of their lives. They were celebrating their wedding at a ranch outside Uvalde, in the peaceful Texas countryside with friends and family.

Just before midnight, the pair left their wedding via helicopter to head back to San Antonio. Not long after, and just a few miles from where the couple celebrated, the helicopter crashed, killing them and 76-year-old pilot Gerald Green Lawrence. Friends and family said he was a captain in the U.S. Army and a veteran of the Vietnam War.

KENS 5 had Hallmark University Dean of Aeronautics Kurt Leslie and William Casteel, an aviation instructor, review the National Transportation Safety Board report.

"It was an exciting night with a lot of pomp and circumstance," Leslie said. "It probably led to one little human factor that ultimately probably led to this."

According to the documents, NTSB found no evidence of any mechanical malfunction. Leslie said, from what he gathers from the findings, it was pilot error. In the dark of the night, Leslie said the pilot was flying lower than he should have.

"He was about 100 feet from clearing that hill he flew into," he said.

The report also states the helicopter's terrain avoidance and warning system's low-altitude alerts were turned off. It went on to state the pilot did not receive warning messages, and it is likely he did not see the terrain before impact.

"He could have forgotten," Casteel said. "He could have been distracted. He failed to turn it back on and that contributed to the accident."

The NTSB report also highlighted the pilot's medical history. According to the report, Lawrence had been diagnosed with early cataracts. He had reported it back to the Federal Aviation Administration in 2005. The report states it is possible this could have hindered his vision.

It also states the pilot was exposed to bright lights during takeoff and his eyesight may not have adjusted to the night conditions.

"It is a very unforgiving business," Leslie said. "When you make a mistake here, you are very fortunate to live through them. It is unfortunate that this happened to this couple and this pilot."

AUSTIN — Elizabeth McCracken and Edward Carey met at a party in New York in 2002. They were both published authors at that point: McCracken, a New Englander, was earning raves for her novel Niagara Falls All Over Again, while Carey, born and raised in England, had recently published his novel Observatory Mansions.

How did they know there was a spark? In typical writerly fashion, of course. "We had great good luck for two writers meeting," McCracken says, sitting by her husband in their modest North Austin home. "We had read each other's work and already liked it."

Today, 17 years later, McCracken, 52, and Carey, 49, make up the most unassuming literary power couple in Texas.

McCracken's new novel, Bowlaway, has earned plaudits for its darkly whimsical tale of a mysterious woman who shows up in a small turn-of-the-century Massachusetts town preaching the gospel of candlepin bowling, a popular New England bowling variation that uses smaller balls and pins than the standard game.

News Roundups

Catch up on the day's news you need to know.

Email Address

By signing up you agree to our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy

Bowlaway arrived on the heels of Carey's Little, which is also — and you may sense a theme developing here — darkly whimsical. Its title heroine is a shy, scrappy orphan who finds she has an extraordinary gift for making wax fixtures. The novel, often bleak but tirelessly sensitive, is essentially an imagining of the life of Madame Tussaud. Carey is also an old-fashioned multimedia artist: Little is packed with Carey's minimalist drawings of his protagonist's observations, many of them belonging to the story's pre-French Revolution setting.

"We have rather similar dark tastes in things," Carey says, sipping a cup of coffee. "If you could sum it up, it's probably like Victorian morgue or something like that."

Indeed, a visitor to their home encounters walls and shelves filled with portraits of those for whom Lytton Strachey once named a book: Eminent Victorians. And there are some portraits of relatives painted in the Victorian style. There are also a number of sculpted heads on display — in Carey's book, wax heads are Little's specialty — some created by Carey, some by other artists. One gets the strong impression these two do a lot of antiquing in their spare time.

One also gets the impression that spare time is rather scarce. They have two kids, Gus and Matilda. They are also full-time writing professors at the University of Texas at Austin.

Carey was recently awarded the prestigious Guggenheim Fellowship, and plans to take a year off teaching to work on his next novel. McCracken holds the James Michener Chair in Fiction and is associate director of the New Writers Project.

UT has kept them in Austin for the last nine years, after an itinerant writing/teaching life took them everywhere from Iowa to Cambridge, Mass., to Paris.

Which raises the question: Do the New Englander and the native Englander consider themselves Texans now?

"Edward," asks McCracken in a faux British accent, "do you feel like a Texan?" "No," he says, laughing. "Do you feel like a Texan?" "No!" McCracken exclaims. "But I like Texans. I feel like it's a part of the country where people have beautiful manners and a great sense of humor, and that's not a great American overlap in many regions."

So no, they're not from here. They didn't even get here as fast as they could. But right now, they're doing the Texas literary scene proud.

Chris Vognar is a contributing writer and former culture critic for The Dallas Morning News.