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Recently the Caribbean Carousel
was called to help remove a West Indian Caiman from someones yard. The
Caiman had aparently entered their yard after the recent heavy rains which
caused some flooding.
Off we went with our wild life expert and
herpathologist, friend Saiyaad Ali on this wild adventure.
We found
the caiman wandering around the lady's yard and managed to rope and tie up
the animal.
Caiman is common name of this reptile in the
crocodilian order. They closely resemble alligators except for the small
bony scales, or osteoderms, embedded in the skin of their bellies. The
largest—4.5 m (15 ft) or more in length—is the black caiman of the Orinoco
and Amazon rivers; it is in danger of extinction, as are many other
crocodilians. The smallest caiman, about 1.5 m (about 5 ft), is Cuvier's
dwarf or armored caiman, which has heavily ossified, or bony, skin. One of
the most abundant and wide-ranging is the spectacled caiman, named for the
bony ridge between its eyes, which looks like the nosepiece of a pair of
eyeglasses. Scientific classification: Caimans belong to the family
Alligatoridae in the order Crocodilia. the spectacled caiman is classified
as Caiman crocodilus crocodilus.
The Caimans tail is considered to
be very tasty by some in the Caribbean and so the species is endangered,
the Caiman is however protected by law and may not be interfered with
except when the animal enters private property. .
After we managed
to capture the Caiman we carried it to our van and took it away much to
the relief of the home owner.
We later examined the Caiman for
parasites and diseases and finding the animal to be healthy later released
it back into the Caroni river where it safely belongs
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