If there is one thing that a capybara named Cheesecake does best, it’s spreading love.
Cheesecake makes friends with all the different kinds of animals that come to Arkanas’ Rocky Ridge Refuge.
She loves to play with others and even cuddles and takes care of them when they need comfort.
Cheesecake came to the sanctuary for abused and neglected animals as a baby.
At first, she lived inside founder Janice Wolf’s house with some dogs.
“She played with the dogs and slept with the dogs,” Wolf told The Dodo.
The dogs immediately took to Cheesecake and, in turn, Cheesecake treated others as they treated her: with love and acceptance.
She started taking care of an orphaned litter of puppies.
“She would adopt them and she’d sleep with them and eat with them, and she’d discipline them too if they were naughty,” Wolf said. “She was a good foster mom, and she just did a great job.”
Cheesecake would spread her love and care for all kinds of animals at the sanctuary.
She loves spending time with the deer, ducklings, tortoises, and even emus.
The sanctuary’s mini horse loves Cheesecake right back and likes to hug her.
The capybara became besties with the senior dogs on site. But Cheesecake was the only capybara there.
Until Cobbler came along in 2014. He was brought to the sanctuary after he was purchased from an exotic pet trader.
“A kid had ordered him online and had him flown to New York City, where he isn’t even legal,” Wolf said. “They somehow found me, and I got sent this tiny little capybara.”
Cheesecake was overjoyed to have a little buddy just like him.
“Capybaras are social animals who live in large groups in the wild, so it’s good that she’s got another capybara,” Wolf said.
Cheesecake still makes time for everyone else on the farm. Especially animals that need mothering.
That’s how Cheesecake became attached to one of the chickens.
“[The chicken] wouldn’t hang with the other chickens,” Wolf said. “It was obvious that she wanted to be with the capybara. She’d ride around on her back and sleep and eat with her.”
The chicken now lives with Cheesecake and Cobbler.
She gets along with both of them but she definitely has a favorite.
“She rides around on both of the capybaras, but her favorite has always been Cheesecake,” Wolf said. “And when it snowed, she wasn’t about to get her feet cold, so she wouldn’t leave. She stayed on that capybara all day. She didn’t want cold feet.”
And Cheesecake doesn’t mind one bit. She is a wellspring of love.
“She’s so accepting of other animals,” Wolf said. “That’s how most of my animals are, but she’s just the epitome of that because she has just taken care of everyone.”
Cheesecake’s story ended up being shared on Animal Planet’s YouTube page. Her video was viewed more than 743,000 times.
“Carybaras are naturally gregarious creatures. So, it’s not totally surprising that sweet Cheesecake (pun intended) has taken to the pups. In fact, it’s been documented that even in the wild, other animals will cuddle up to capybaras!” one commenter wrote.
“Capybaras are the Disney princesses of the animal kingdom, they are just like always surrounded by other animals,” said another.
See Cheesecake and her animal friends in the video below!
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