Tuesday, June 2, 2009

Discovering Wildlife



We were blessed with a day vacation from class today because of a big faculty symposium on campus. To make the most out of the day before I started the drudgery of an all out free study day, I decided to make a morning swim. To my surprise the pool was already occupied by an attack iguana who was not too happy at all about the intrusion that my neighbors and I made upon his new found domain. We did scatter quite a bit, having been bitten by a dang iguana in the past I did not wish to experience it again


So that got me to thinking about the other wildlife that exists on the island, I don't know why it never occurred to me before, especially after discovering the Snail of Unusual Size outside my door a few weeks ago. Fortunately there aren't any animals that I discovered that are considered dangerous. The fish and marine life here is fairly tranquil; the most dangerous I've found is the long spined sea urchin and the water is so clear you can avoid these at all times if you find yourself having to walk across their habitat. Even the sharks are fairly laid back, they are the smaller and less aggressive Caribbean reef and Blacknose sharks. I heard some students say that there are bull sharks here but I haven't found any literautre supporting that.
There is one harmless grass snake, many species of birds but nothing real "islandy exotic" like Macaws or anything like that. There is this one strange bird called a sugar bird or bananaquit that is very tiny and has a brilliant orange chest and can be attracted to your patio by leaving a small bowl of sugar out for them. The most unique thing is the sound they make, check it out here Sugarbird Song
There is also one species of monkey that I have not yet seen, although it is reported to hang out here in Cupecoy. No new adventures other than that, now its back to protein metabolism and anatomy of the skull, eye and brain. Hooray for me!!

1 comment:

  1. Thanks for the info about the wildlife, especially the clip about the little bird. I've been wondering what kinds of animals existed on the island. Watch out for the iguanas!

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