After dozens of visits to Pinel, I was quite surprised to find a small house hidden amongst the trees on the far side. The trees were full of bananaquit and the ground was covered in thousands of hermit crabs. There were pots and pans, a fireplace, a sailboat sail and various chairs and tables. There was even a ping pong table. Later we learned that the house belonged to a woman who built it before the island was a nature preserve and still lives there part-time.

Since it was unusually rainy on Sunday, we went with Jenn’s cousin Jim and his aunt Suzie on a tour of closed island attractions. First up was the Plantation, which has apparently been closed since hurricane Omar. Next, we visited The Old House and Rum Museum, which is apparently closed on Mondays and every other day as well. It did have a nice, rusty, wasp-filled boiler. Finally we went to the movies, checking out the game room (Flamin’ Finger, anyone?), the Party Room and the under-construction room. Whatever you do, don’t go to see The Wolfman. Finally, we drove up to Pic Paradis to enjoy the view of the island, as well as St. Barths off in the distance. Good times!

A few days ago I returned to Goat Mountain (a.k.a. First Stick Hill) and found it considerably drier than previous visits. Many trees were losing their leaves, which some species do to preserve moisture during dry periods. Of course, since then we have had some substantial rain so it remains to be seen how permanent the change will be. On my visit I saw a few interesting things, including a green caterpillar that was shaped like a fuzzy oval. The head and all the legs were hidden under the large abdomen, making it relatively featureless on the dorsal side, which was a very good, green, fuzzy match for the sage-like leaves of the shrub it was eating.

Here are a few photos of some creatures and plants I encountered at the summit of Pic Paradis, the tallest point on the island of Saint Martin. The most interesting was probably the large slug I found crawling across a tree trunk. Compared to slugs I have seen in North America, this had a peculiarly flattened shape and seemed less moist, no doubt an adaptation to the drier climate here. I was also able to spot several dwarf geckos in the leaf litter of the forest, including this Sphaerodactylus macrolepis. There were a number of butterflies as well, including several skippers and a very pale, small sulfur that I did not capture on film (or memory card as the case may be).

Also, I almost forgot to mention that I saw an indian mongoose (Herpestes auropunctatus) running across the road. It looked a bit like a reddish-brown squirrel with a scraggly tail. Apparently the mongoose was introduced to the island in 1888, and since then it has been implicated in the demise of various local species of animal.

I happened to look into a hole in a tree near the road at the top of Pic Paradis and found a pair of blue eyes looking back at me. A gentle prodding with a small stick prompted this grasshopper to partially emerge from his hiding place to pose for photos.

While Anolis pogus are typically seen on the ground or in the lower areas of bushes and trees, these two males began fighting on an elevated perch in some trees near the roadside. After facing off while displaying threatening coloration, they locked mouths and began to fight in earnest. Over the course of more than ten minutes with their jaws continually locked around each others’ head, they pushed and clawed at each other. Several times they fell to a lower branch whilst remaining joined in battle. During the fight, their coloration changed considerably as you can see from the photos and video below. The battle ended when they fell to the ground and the loser scampered off into the forest.

On a rock wall near the southern lookout point on the top of Pic Paradis I spotted first one, then another Anolis gingivinus that displayed striking coloration and a pronounced dorsal ridge. A few moments later, the two anoles were engaged in battle, presumably over choice territory on the rock fence. (I did not notice any nearby females.) The photos below show: the combatants facing off, the distinctive coloration of each lizard, the battle and the victor enjoying his successfully defended perch.

While Anolis gingivinus is considerably more common than Anolis pogus in the lowland areas of St. Martin, it is also present in smaller numbers even at the summit of Pic Paradis, the island’s highest point. Unlike Anolis pogus there is not much difference in the markings and coloration of these lizards, although they do seem to be more likely to stay on the ground than their lowland brothers.

Yesterday I took a trip to the summit of Pic Paradis, the highest point on the island at approximately 1400 feet. Near the summit, Anolis pogus was very common and I found a wide array of color and pattern variations while I was there. Previously, the specimens I had encountered conformed entirely to the published descriptions I have read: light tan with few visible markings and a turquoise patch around each eye. This time, I saw many color variations, some clearly linked to behavior.

While some individuals sported the “typical” Anolis pogus coloration, others varied wildly. The trademark blue around the eye was often not present at all. In some individuals, there was a clearly defined, white dorsal stripe. In others, there were dark bands across the back. The overall color varied from the typical tan to dark gray. Often, this was combined with a dark red on the top of the head. Yellow patches on the sides of the chest were also common. In males preparing to fight over territory, two dark spots appeared behind the eye.

These wide variations were seen in a myriad of combinations, and individuals could be found at varying points in between. From watching a pair of males fighting, it seemed that these color variations were likely to be temporary, related to the emotional states of the lizards and potentially as camouflage as well.

We made another trip to our favorite mangrove spot on Valentine’s Day, but once again encountered bad visibility in the area where the salt pond meets the ocean. This time, we headed out into the shallows of Baie Lucas and found a great many things in the bay. Clouds of mystid shrimp and schools of juvenile fish abounded. Another highlight was finding a batwing coral crab (Carpilius corallinus) doing strange stuff with a small rock in 18 inches of water. Red warty anemones (Bunodosoma granifulera) were also common.

We finished up back at the mangroves where we attempted to revive a number of mangrove upsidedwon jellyfish (Cassiopea xamachana) that had been stranded on the sand by the retreating tide. These harmless jellies have symbiotic algae in their tissues that help nourish them. At rest, they pulse upside-down to let the algae get more sunlight.