TravelTalkOnline Forums Travel and Vacation Forums St. Maarten - St. Martin A monkey raided my SXM garden

The gardener said a monkey ate all the watermelon and papaya... There is just corn left.
I guess the monkey doesn't like corn?

Just curious--is this the first time you have had a problem with monkeys in your yard?

Had the same problem one year here in CT. DH planted a few rows of corn in his little back yard garden, more for the girls to have the experience of growing their own food than anything else. We watched it all summer until one evening John came in and said I could plan on fresh corn for dinner the next night.

Apparently we weren't the only ones watching it. Not monkeys - not too many of those here in CT - but the racoons raided the garden that night and destroyed each one of the half dozen corn plants he'd nurtured all summer. And the little buggers didn't even eat them all - just chewed a bit and moved on to the next ear.

We had the same problem with tomatoes and squirrels. The little buggers would take one bite of the tomato and throw it down on the ground! Now, we just go to the fruit stand!

I saw the monkey on the property the first time this February 2020. Here is the monkey with the papaya.

We loose a lot of figs and plumbs to squirrels every year. One year it was a family of raccoons that we would see at night in the trees.

To join the conversation to lighten the mood........we grow roughly 1400 acres of corn and soybean....talk about critters invading and munching away...LOL We not only have raccoons, but deer, opossum, squirrels etc. Some fields we even have bears and bobcats that trample down the crop.....seen on camera. Hubby not usually happy about it, but it's nature doing what it has to do ...:-)

Bobcats eat corn or soybean?? Interesting...

OK, so to get this back on SXM, to be on topic, what's the most unusual animal you've seen on SXM?? Extra points for pictures!





I know, iguanas and goats aren't unusual at all, but what I have at the moment.

A safe and responsible motor bike driver?

cruzer--Nah, you HAVE to have a picture if you're going to say that!

No Carol......not that I am aware of, but they like coy-dogs and the bears trample it down. There are a few people that have placed cameras in some of our fields and we've seen them just strolling along and them flop down to rest in the process knock over several stalks to get comfy.....LOL

Ain't that just like a CAT, to do whatever they can do, to make themselves comfortable!!

African Eagle at Les Aigles de St Martin in Orleans, probably taken in the early to mid 80's.

Ugly lookin' head on that thing!! How do you know it is an African eagle, by the way? I took several pics of an African fish eagle in Africa, and it looked very much like a US bald eagle. My really old pictures of SXM are in very poor shape.

That's what the handler said that it was. I wouldn't know an African Eagle if it landed on my arm (and it did).

Oh, ok. COOL! Thanks.

Cool picture.

A few years ago (maybe 2012) we saw a mongoose near the landfill on the eastern end of the island. Didn't have a chance to get a picture, ugly anyways. I have read that the presence of mongooses is why there are no snakes, which is a big factor for my wife in traveling to SXM, and not to some other islands.)

I don't have pics of my iguana. The pics were saved on my laptop which is in N.Y. The iguana is hugh and lives in the garden. The laundry room is on the ground floor and one time when doing laundry the iguana came in and scared the $*#+ out of me.

There are plenty of mongoose on SXM but they run so fast it is hard to get a picture. I heard the mongoose where brought to the caribbean on ships back in the early days. They were let loose to kill the rats. The problem with mongoose they also kill birds.

Hate to burst your bubble but there are a few snakes on St Maarten.

Snakes that was what the mongoose were brought to the islands for... but if there are fewer snakes they eat birds.

Sssshhhhh. Don't let my wife know. Glad she doesn't read this site. Curious - do you know what type(s) of snakes there are?

I have never seen a snake on SXM.

There were a few Boas that escaped from captivity and not all were caught. But there are some native snake still around. I personally haven't seen any but heard reports.

Scroll down to see the 2 types of snakes on St Maarten.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_amphibians_and_reptiles_of_Saint_Martin#Lizards_and_snakes_(Squamata)

Here is a photo of a mongoose. The photo was taken at Petites Cayes beach in Saint-Martin -- the beach that can only be reached by hiking in on the trail that begins near the French landfill.

Here is a playful Dolphin at La Belle Creole in 1990

An octopus.

AUC spouse--I've never seen a mongoose. Thanks for the pic.

Neil--are you on Anguilla still?

Not unusual. But very cool. They do a walk past my condo daily. The one on the wall fell from the cliff above me while we were sitting on the beach!

That last picture would be pretty, if it didn't have that thing in it!!

Hahaha. It was hysterical!! We were sitting under a cliff and her a splat!!! They must have been fighting and both fell off about 25 feet into the sand!

Mongoose are as ugly as moles... Thanks for the pic.

Those mongooses are nasty looking little devils.

Were they kind of stunned?? That's a pretty long drop!

Yup. They both stood there for about 10 minutes. The big one went on his way. The little guy came over to use and tried to climb up within 4 feet of my chair! That’s how I got that close up shot!!

Yes Carol still at Four Seasons, a few staff on property.

OK, take care.