Orchids and Guinea Pigs

What do they have in common? Before domestication, guinea pigs had a highly evolved symbiotic relationship with orchids. The males would pollinate the flowers and in exchange would cover themselves in the orchids' odor, an odor used to subsequently attract female guinea pigs...

That's not true. At all. In fact, I'm not even sure if these creatures ever lived in the wild in the first place. I can't see it defending itself particularly well. Evolution would have had a field day with them.

So what do they actually have in common? In May I enjoyed both at Parque Carolina, among Ecuador's largest and most beautiful parks. And when I say enjoy, I mean I photographed the beautiful orchids and ate a grilled guinea pig, locally known as "cuy" for the sounds it makes (try making the noise in a high-pitch, you'll see the indigenous got the name just right.) I know, it sounds terribly cruel, but in Ecuador the g. pig has traditionally been a very important animal for the indigenous people. In addition to providing protein (tastes like chicken, of course), they were kept indoors as guard animals. I'm actually not messing around about the guard animal part. While not attacking, people believed that the little critters could sense bad energy, and when someone entered the house who could not be trusted, would make the "cuy cuy cuy" noise and alert the host.