On a rainy day this week in Goiânia, Brazil, real estate agent João Dourado was driving home with his 11-year-old daughter when he noticed something out of place. Just off the road, in the median, Dourado believed he saw a stranded capybara.
“I was surprised,
because it was in an urban area,” Dourado told The Dodo.
Stopped at a light, Dourado pointed it out to his daughter, who squealed in delight.
But there was more to the sighting than met their eyes.
After observing the “capybara” for a few moments and realizing it hadn’t moved, Dourado grew concerned.
“I thought she was hurt. Maybe she got hit by a car and was lying there quietly like that,” Dourado said. “I was actually going to stop and call the fire department.”
When the light changed and Dourado pulled forward, however, they realized the truth: It was just a capybara-shaped log.
Dourado was relieved. His family, meanwhile, found his mistake hilarious.
“Everyone’s been cracking up about it,” Dourado said. “Saying, ‘Man, he’s really getting old — he couldn’t see what it was.’”
After the rain ended, Dourado went back to the spot to check on the source of that case of mistaken identity.
To Dourado’s credit, he was genuinely concerned for what he thought was an animal in need of help.
And the log in the rain did have an uncanny resemblance to a capybara.
There may have been no real threat of danger or harm, but the way things played out still led to a happy ending.
“I’m still laughing about it to this day,” Dourado said.
