With all the recent rain in Saint Martin, the hills are green and I am expecting to see lots of creatures in the coming week. Over the past few days, I’ve gone out a bit at night to capture some of the nocturnal nightlife action and found quite a few things, mostly unidentified moths (including a variety of very small ones) and other insects. One of my more interesting finds was a large sphinx moth that was flapping on the ground even though someone had already eaten his abdomen. I also was alerted to the roosting place of a zenaida dove by a friendly security guard. Also of note was a house gecko with a necrotic tail. My guess is that it had tried to shed the tail in self-defense, but it hadn’t come off entirely.

For more nocturnal action, check out the previous creatures of the night post.

Yesterday I had a chance to walk around Anse Marcel for a bit and took a few photos of some creatures I found there. I had heard that hypoxic conditions had left dead fish floating in the marina there as well as in the lagoon, but did not see any evidence of it. I did see some burrowing crabs, some small doves that I haven’t identified yet, and plenty of anoles.

Today I headed to Colombier, which is a charming town in a valley surrounded by mountains. I didn’t find either of the alleged hiking trails that begin there, but I did climb a nearby hill and descend on the other side at Loterie Farm. En route, I encountered a variety of insects, many spiders and a swarm of honeybees. The bees were clustered on the branch of a tree, and I’m guessing they had split from an existing hive and had not yet found the ideal spot for a new one.

The trip down the hill was fairly arduous. Although I don’t want to criticize the habitats of which I am a guest, but in some parts of the island there are altogether too many ants. They form colonies in the ground and on tree branches and I found that in some spots my appendages would be covered in ants if I left them in any place for more than a few moments. I also have no love for the thorny vine. On the other hand, I did meet a friendly donkey.

As promised, here are a few photos of the strange beetle I found on Hope Hill yesterday. I think it is a type of weevil based on the long snout and antennae coming out of it. It is, however, quite elongated and quite large for a weevil. Its feet made a very quiet pitter-patter on the paper as it ran around while I was photographing it.

It’s been hot here, so I woke up early this morning and was on the road before six. My goal was to explore the smaller peak on the north part of Hope Hill, as there are large rock faces that could contain caves. On my way, I found a Killdeer and its chick in an unfinished building foundation. The adult tried to distract me, but left once I hopped in to take a couple photos of the chick. Nearby, a caterpillar was being attacked by a swarm of ants and a gecko spontaneously dropped its tail, which was twitching on the ground. A good start.

I headed up Hope Hill, trying to avoid being noticed by anyone from the mining operation, just in case I wasn’t allowed up there. Many of the usual suspects were around, like a baby Anolis gingivinus. Near the top, I was attempting to climb up a fifteen-foot cliff face when I noticed a peculiar gecko with very large eyes (even for a gecko) and peculiar skin patterns. It was on a dead tree leaning up against the rock wall, which I was trying to rotate, whilst clinging to the wall, whilst taking photos. The result was substandard, but the attempt was quite inspired.

At the top, I explored the forest for a while, finding a very unusual beetle (which I will photograph and post later) and a group of wasps with long, hanging abdomens and brilliant eyes. I also found some kind of plant that stings quite a lot when you touch it.

Instead of heading back the same way, I decided to go down the other side of the mountain, towards the Atlantic. First, an old dirt road took me to a little gazebo in the woods with a hammock and picnic table. Then I followed a stone wall that eventually met an odd patch of paved road in the middle of nowhere. Beyond that was tall grass and what was probably once a dirt road which eventually took me to an amazing dry gully filled with huge boulders and flanked by steep rock cliffs. Where I entered the gully, there was a brilliantly colored jumping spider that had white pedipalps which it was waving, to attract prey, I would guess.

The gully continued for a considerable length, although eventually I began to hear the sound of cars and people in the distance. Suddenly, I found a beautiful butterfly. It was one of those ones that closely resembles a dead leaf when it is resting, but had orange and blue on the top side of its wings. Not only had I found a new butterfly on the island, but it was a pretty one, too! Unfortunately, after reviewing the species that are found in the area and my own photos from the nearby Butterfly Farm, it seems likely that it’s a foreign species that managed to escape its confinement.

A couple days ago, I found two blind snakes in Chris and Sally’s yard. The first was very small, the second was much smaller. I believe they are an African species, Ramphotyphlops braminus, that has accidentally been introduced by man in many tropical areas and has been seen on nearby Anguilla. Common names for this species include the brahminy blind snake and flowerpot blind snake.

Besides its curious appearance, this snake is also apparently the only confirmed parthenogenic snake and there are no males. They also have scales over their rudimentary eyes, so they can only see light and dark, but not much else. Although they look like worms, they move quite quickly and it is very hard to tell the head from the tail. As with many other snakes, they excrete a smelly substance when captured.

La Belle Creole was a 25 acre resort built to look like a French fishing village. I believe it was abandoned after Hurricane Luis in 1995, and it is now a very interesting modern ruin. Located on Nettle Bay right beside Pointe du Bluff, the hotel is easily accessible from Le Trou de David. As far as I can tell, all of the rooms are accessible, and many bore the mark of past squatters. The “beautifully landscaped” gardens are now entirely overgrown and give the hotel a very spooky feel.

Here is an aerial view of the hotel during its heyday:

And here are a few shots of it as it is today:

I went on a walk today, and without ever really leaving Grand Case, visited a variety of ecosystems including wetlands, forest and grasslands. My first interesting sighting was an immature green heron, which I had not seen before. I also visited a forested area by the pharmacy where Anolis pogus was very common. I have read that this species prefers higher altitudes, but I’m pretty sure the main difference between them and Anolis gingivinus is that pogus prefers shady areas, while gingivinus prefers sunlight.

Next, I visited an area by the airport pond that was dense with leaf litter and, unfortunately, trash. It also was home to some of the largest ground lizards (Amieva plei) that I’ve seen. I also noticed that the larger individuals seem to develop dark bars in their shoulder area. The ground was also covered in the red hemipterans at varying stages of development, from immature to mating adults.

Finally, I headed out to the fields in La Savane, including a large soccer field that sported some lovely dead trees. There were monarchs and a variety of other butterflies cavorting in the field, and I found some mice under a board. I also found the awesomest no parking sign in the world.

It had been more than two months since my last visit to Goat Mountain, and recent rains have left it quite green and inviting. So, of course, I had to go. Someone fixed the fence I used to hop by the Grand Case Beach Club, so I headed up across from the airport, which ended up being a nice change of scenery. One of my goals was to investigate the possibility of caves near the summit, but there were only a few tiny cracks and holes. They did prompt the question: why are there bones in small caves? I’m not sure if scavengers bring bodies or body parts back to eat them, or if sick animals shelter in caves and die there. Maybe bones just stay put in little caves rather than being washed downhill by the rain.

I did see some interesting things, like a goat skull with a hatched gecko egg in it, a pair of goats, a cicada larva exoskeleton and some lovely views of Grand Case. On my way back I found a cluster of large, black beetles under a board and one poor individual being attacked by ants while trying to crawl away.

My online research has indicated that there are two known bat caves on Saint Martin (the third and largest was destroyed in development some years back). After a couple months of anticipation, today I entered one for the first time. Located on Billy Folly, the hill behind the Pelican resort, I was able to find it using a combination of GPS coordinates and panorama photographs taken at the cave and posted to flickr.

After plotting the coordinates on Google Maps, I headed up behind the Pelican and parked near an expansive villa with the mysterious name Cleavage. I started down a small trail, but then veered off towards the summit of Billy Folly, doing a little rock climbing and crossing over the top. From there, I used the panoramic photos to identify the general location of the cave and soon found the small hole in the ceiling of the cave. Within, a bit of light gave me the general direction of the main entrance and I headed down the rocky cliff to reach it.

The entrance to the cave is a small arch, perhaps two feet high. Once inside, I discovered the cave is quite large, perhaps 20 feet tall in places and about 30 feet wide. Smaller caverns lead off in all directions from the floor and walls of the cave. Many are large enough to crawl into, but small enough to make that a bad idea if you are alone. Perhaps a half-dozen bats were hanging from the ceiling in the main chamber, while most apparently roost in the side passages. Periodically one or more bats would fly in circles around the cave. It was spooky, and awesome.

After exploring that cave, I headed around the base of the rocks and found two more caves, although I did not see any bats in them. The second cave was quite large, with a similar large main cavern with a small hole in the top that let in light. The third cave was the smallest, with an entrance you could walk through that quickly narrowed after about ten or fifteen feet with no significant crevices that I could see.

I look forward to future explorations of this cave, and perhaps a chance to search for additional caves in the area. After that, I will try to find the cave near Mont Rouge!