15 March 2011

We checked our traps again in the morning and captured nine animals (seven recaptures) in 28 traps because I had to deliver a lecture about the Sandy Point National Wildlife Refuge mongoose population at the University of the Virgin Islands (UVI) at 1:00 pm. Marcia Taylor (UVI marine biologist) made all the arrangements and met me at the Evans Center Theater at 12:30 pm. There was another seminar in the theater until 1:00 pm so we didn't get everything set up until almost 1:15 (as they say down here - there's no time and there's Crucian time!). There were not many in attendance but I feel better about finally giving a seminar on our mongoose work after 30 years of trapping on St. Croix!

After my seminar we went to Christiansted to play tourist and have dinner at the Fort Christian Brewpub on the boardwalk in Christiansted Harbor. It is a very picturesque setting with the sailboats aligned to the northeast (facing into the wind of course) and terns perched on every bow and a scattering of pelicans attending to the sterns of several boats waiting for their next meal. The tarpon enjoyed their meal of bones from the chicken wings we had in the afternoon. It is common practice to toss the table scraps off the dock to feed the fish. The 20-40 pound tarpon appear to get the lion's share of the table scraps. Every know and then the sound of the persistent trade winds and the muffled conversations of nearby patrons is drowned out by the sound of the sea plane struggling to escape the surface friction as it plows its way through the gentle surf. Once airborne, the engines report a much higher frequency sound. The backdrop consists of the waves crashing over the reef, Protestant Cay with its Hotel on the Cay, the endless aquamarine of the Caribbean and in the absence of clouds, St. Thomas, St. John, and Tortola appear as jagged shapes on an otherwise straight horizon.

While we were finishing our last beer Jonathan was talking with a fisherman who was trying his luck off the boardwalk. A young man with a video camera approached the fisherman and Jonathan and started conversing with both of them. Several minutes later the videographer and Jonathan came over to ask my permission if he could record the interaction. I agreed and the final video is posted on YouTube

Hotel on the Cay in Christiansted Harbor.

This evening Brad, Julian, and Kris went powder-tracking and had a little unexpected adventure. Brad inadvertently caught a Jack Spaniard's hive on the back of his neck and in less than several seconds he sustained numerous stings by these vespid wasps to his neck and back as well as his hands. Julian and Kris received fewer but equally painful stings to their hands and arms. However, that did not deter Brad from his self-appointed mission of learning as much about mongoose movements as possible. The stings nor the persistent cold can't break his spirit. Although I single out Brad for his stamina and guts in this vignette, he is not alone. I would gladly take Justin, Deidre, and Addy into the field again!

And so ends another beautiful day in Paradise!