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#56913
06/03/2015 07:01 PM
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Joined: Jan 2004
Posts: 331
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Posts: 331 |
OK. Can't find a post about it. But after all these years, we saw our first mongoose on St. Thomas. Rare, or have I just missed them? It was dusk at the BW Caribe across from the airport. We were walking back up from the bar to the hotel and he was very interested in something up ahead of us.
Capt D (Caribguy)
s/v Mollie Jean
"When I go to heaven, I want to go from the islands..it's closer"
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Joined: Apr 2004
Posts: 10,999
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Mongooses are all over JVD. They were imported from Jamaica in the late 1800s by the sugar cane growers to fight the rats. After they ate the rats they ate the lizards and snakes. Now they are working on the bird population.
Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts. - Mark Twain
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Joined: Jul 2008
Posts: 3,003
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Well the Mongooses were brought here from India to kill the snakes and then the rats. It took a couple of centuries for them to destroy the snakes because the snake like the rats were nocturnal hunters and the mongooses hunted by day.
And yes the mongooses are thriving through out the Caribbean.
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Joined: Mar 2005
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cool...we'll be on the look out.
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Joined: Jan 2004
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Yeah. We had a funny discussion. Some in our group thought it was a large ferret. Google was our friend to find it was a small indian mongoose.
Don't think I've ever seen a snake in the BVI's, but the kids did want to plant rubber snakes all over Sandy Cay after seeing the cactus there....THAT didn't go very far!
Capt D (Caribguy)
s/v Mollie Jean
"When I go to heaven, I want to go from the islands..it's closer"
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Joined: Oct 2007
Posts: 228
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Posts: 228 |
Yeah, Mongoose are one of the world's invasive species. Responsible for 1/4 of all extinctions for island-dwelling reptiles where they have been introduced. At least lionfish are tasty.... too bad there's not a good use for mongoose!
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Joined: Oct 2001
Posts: 1,901
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I guess we've not ever spent enough time shore-side on JVD or any of the BVI's. My only memory of seeing /watching Mongoose was when we were in Little Lameshur SJ, getting a kick out of seing them ransack the shore side trash barrel.
Having a lot of experience with the Maine Herring Gull and Black Backed Gull, we were actually happy to keep our lunch and dinner to ourselves aboard.
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Joined: Oct 2007
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One time I went snorkeling at Francis Bay STJ and left my backpack with lunch in it unzipped. BIG mistake! Mongooses had a feast!
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Joined: Sep 2006
Posts: 5,680
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We saw one at Soggy Dollar one time. It had no fear at all.
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