Capybaras & Son

A simple image. An easy capture. Not everything has to be flashy or difficult to be extraordinary. This image, for example, is utterly beautiful to me—not only because I love wildlife and was honored to be able to get so up close and personal with them—but because I was able to save a shared moment in time between myself and my near-adult son.

As my oldest of two boys quickly approaches graduating high school and moving on with the rest of his life, I greatly cherish the time we have left, uninterrupted by his future responsibilities. I became a mother at a relatively young age—23—and raised him alone for ten years. We grew up together, and have always been extremely close because of it being the two of us against the world. One of the greatest passions we share is our interest in the environment, and animals, in particular. Our friends have referred to us over the years as “Nat Geo” and “Nat Geo Junior,” knowing that we will often spontaneously share unsolicited, random zoological knowledge. Strangers that we meet anywhere that wildlife is present either get quickly annoyed, or enthralled, by our endless safari guide banter. One of my fondest memories is a trip to Disney’s Animal Kingdom when he was around three years old; we were setting off on the Kilimanjaro Safari ride when the driver/guide stated we’d be coming up on a type of African deer. As we approached and my son caught a glimpse of the creatures, he exclaimed, “That’s not a deer. That’s an okapi!” He then proceeded to tell the guide and others joining us some interesting okapi facts. To say everyone was impressed is an understatement.

Every opportunity we get to have a mother-son outing, we try to find a new spot to enjoy animals and nature. Right before the pandemic, we found a relatively local spot—an exotic animal rescue—that offered hands-on experiences with kangaroos, capybaras, zebras, camels, water buffalo, and other species. Booking it was a no-brainer.

When we go on our little (or big) excursions, I don’t take a fancy camera because A) I wouldn’t know how to use it, and B) I get massive anxiety about carrying multiple items anywhere. So, equipped with my iPhone 8S Plus—both of my kids have better phones than I do—we set out to enjoy the wildlife offered at this retreat.

Now, I like to think of myself as a master of all trades; I can usually do anything I set my mind to pretty well, so I always assume my photos will turn out as masterpieces. The reality is that, while most of them aren’t that bad, they aren’t magazine-worthy, either. Adding my point-shoot-pray photography skills to a lack of sought-out opportunities (I chose to really live the hands-on experience instead of documenting every step), and my chances of a decent picture were out of the question.

When I saw this one photo in particular, though, I knew it was different. I knew it had potential. Not only did I think it was a lovely shot, but the capybara is my son’s favorite animal, so, as it should, it held a special place in my heart. It was nice to begin with, but I cropped it and put a simple iPhone-provided camera editing “vivid” filter on it, and it was near-perfect. The only thing that would have made it better, in my eyes, was if my son would have allowed me to include him in the photo. But, being the typical self-conscious teenager, he vehemently denies my photo requests. Moms—does everyone have this problem?

In any case, I was so proud of this picture that I posted it on my Instagram feed (thank God my son wasn’t in the frame, or he would have murdered me for sharing it on social media), along with some, what I thought of as, relevant hashtags. TWO professional wildlife photographers actually liked and commented on it! While I find this as a major accomplishment, I’ll let you decide—is it worthy? I know I will hold it in high regard for a long time to come as a proud mother’s memory of her firstborn.