Animals of Tobago (excluding fish)

[Achim Lewandowski]

Dear all,

this is a summary of animals I have seen during my stay last year:

1. The mysterious mammal on Little Tobago:

If you have heard any rumours about the existence of mammals (besides birds and lizards) on Little Tobago, it is my fault. I asked one of the fishermen to pick me up after an one hour stay.

I saw a small brownish snake, a lot of hermit crabs, of course birds, but suddenly there was a movement in the bush and I saw the back of a smaller mammal vanishing into the bushes.

A guide of the glassbottom boat tours, whom I met later, doubted what I had seen. But I am sure that it was not one of the chickens. If I had to bet, I would take "peccary".

At least, I returned the next day to have a closer look, this time for three hours. Did not see anything special.

By the way, the fisherman of the second day needed only 7 minutes to reach Little Tobago (15 for the first day).


2. The Giant Salamander

I walked along the Gilpin Trail and my knowledgable guide was Junior from Bloody Bay. Suddenly he pointed out to the largest Salamander he has seen during the seven years being a guide (at least this is what he told me, maybe he just wanted to give me a good time). It was about 50cm long.


3. Birds

Again the Gilpin Trail is a good place, but also the waterfall of Castara. If you stay in Speyside, ask for "Stretch" to show you the secret place for bird-watching (I haven't seen it). The guide from Cuffie River Nature Retreat (have forgotten his name) was gentle and was a pro in spotting birds.


4. Sandflies:

This guy here is modeled life-size, one-to-one:

http://www.alewand.de/fotos/neusee/fo54.htm

No, I have not seen any sandflies. Or are these red spots at your ankles due to sandflies?

5. Bats:

Under the roof of the Arnos Vale Waterwheel Restaurant a bunch of bats can be easilly observed.


6. I haven't seen any spiders, armadillos, ant-eaters, manicous, agoutis, cockroaches, centipedes, ...

7. The number of moskitoes was low.

8. The chemical toilet at the beach of Englishman's Bay was the home of maybe 2000 maggots, a view you won't forget so fast.



Any additional experiences?


Best regards,

Achim

[Paul Tallet]

We saw a Manicou one night on a drive down the road to Bloody Bay.

It looked quite angry and turned it's back on the car and urinated in our general direction before disappearing off into the Rain Forest.

The stench that followed would have cleared a square mile of human habitation.


Fireflies

You don't need a guide for this ... go to Englishmans Bay at night and park the car on the road near the entrance ... switch off all lights and be treated to the most awesome display of randy fireflies sending their signals to each other.



Sand Flies

Nasty microscopic things that are basically made up of big teeth and little else ... and a taste for human flesh/blood with high levels of alcohol ... best seen in the sand through a magnifying glass. If you don't see them ... BE SCARED ... because they will be chewing on you !!!!


Regards

Paul

[Achim Lewandowski]

I forgot these:

Leaf-cutter ants: could be observed on the Gilpin Trail

Fireflies: Could be also observed on the beach of Castara

Iguanas: I haven't seen any.

Butterflies: could be observed here and there, but not in large masses

Land Crabs: in Charlotteville, next to the road to L'Anse Fourmi

Caimans: I wanted to see them, but I wasn't allowed to go up to the crown of the Hillsborough Dam. Some sources claim that you need a permission from the forestry division, but the guard next to the dam told me, there was no way to visit the caimans. At least, photos of the caimans (2m long) do exist in the web... Maybe you have to know the right people.

Greetings,

Achim

[Paul Tallet]

Hi Achim

During my most recent stay my family and I (and other animals!!) were relaxing on Paradise beach when this 'thing' sort of galloped across the beach, plunged into the sea and started trying to swim away from Tobago.

It's head was that of a rat, the body was that of a pig and the legs were that of a hare (or long legged rabbit). It had no tail.

The chaps that were entertaining various parties on fishing/snorkelling/barbecue trips made chase and one of them captured it, tied both sets of legs together and plopped it into one of the boats to take home ... I might add that the chap that captured it is very lucky to have a full set of fingers on each hand ... the teeth on this thing looked lethal.

Anyway, I was told that this 'thing' is a GOOTIE ... and the reason for it's capture was evident when the pack of dogs turned up. Apparently Gooties are good sport for hunting and their last resort is to run into the sea when the dogs are close.

This particular Gootie was taken home and caged with the intention of feeding it well and breeding more Gooties.

I understand that they can be pets or a delicacy on the dinner table.

I do not envy the people who ended their trip in the company of the Gootie on their boat ... it stunk to high heaven and had (quite understandably) a big attitude and a high pitched sqwark !!!


Regards


Paul

[K Travers]

I was told that this 'thing' is a GOOTIE

I'm assuming this is an agouti? [Editor: Broken link removed] Interesting sighting!

On our recent trip, my husband saw a manicou (a(n?) opossum)- also prized as bushmeat, like the agouti. Wesaw plenty of birds of course, as well as fish. We saw an incredible display of fireflies in the evening once while walking home from Speyside to the Blue Waters Inn. It was remarkable! It had rained all day, and apparently they are more commonly seen in such conditions.

Oh, and we saw a caiman! It was too far away for a good picture, but it sure was fun gazing at its toothy grin through binoculars.

Pictures from our trip can be found here: http://ktravers.smugmug.com/Travel/12476

Karin

[Achim Lewandowski]

Hi,

it could also have been an agouti, although I had already seen agoutis elsewhere.

Obviously agoutis can swim, why not the whole distance to Little Tobago, with a rest on Goat Island ?

So, there is no reason anymore to tell me that I might have hallucinated and Little Tobago is mammal-free for sure. (No need to put a hand on my shoulder, and to tell me that everything is fine and I just need to stay calm)

Good photos, Karin, but I could not detect the photos from the cycling tour ...

Regards,

Achim

[Paul Tallet]

Fancy that.

I asked the chap to spell it to me ... just for the record ... and he said it was G.O.O.T.I.E. ... maybe he just went along with me !!!

It was exactly as described in the link though.

Like the photos Karin ... especially our mate, the black spaniel in the Shipwreck.

Paul

[Steve Wooler]

Hi Paul

We had a bit of a discussion in the forum about agoutis some months ago. You can follow the thread (and picture) at http://www.mytobago.info/forum/viewtopic.php?p=3276

Hope this helps.