AmbergrisCaye.com Home Forums The Cayes Ambergris Caye Sri (the dog) update, and let's talk about crocs

Hello again San Pedro,

Thank you all so much for your well-wishes. It was amazing to find her alive and well because of your help and quick thinking!

Sri Lanka visited SAGA today and was found to be in good health after her croc encounter. The cut on her leg didn't even need stitches, and she's not even limping anymore! Hooray for resilient potlickers!!!

On another subject, when we were driving home from SAGA, along the "croc road" south of San Pedrito and west of the airstrip, Sri came face to face with her attacker, or at least a member of its family. There was a croc right in the middle of the road! Sri (who was leashed in the golf cart) began barking and snarling and the croc finally went back into the canal, but I'm left to wonder why they're out in full swing this week, at all hours of the day.

It used to be a novelty to see a croc once a month, even less. This week we've seen them every morning and evening, no exaggeration. Is it mating season? Are they getting used to humans? I've also heard the theory that dogs, dead from poisoning, are being dumped in the lagoon... more croc fodder.

Any opinions or theories from you, the message board community? I'm fascinated by this, yet scared because it's 500 yards from my front door, and there are 900 lb predators crawling around.

Let me know what you think.

From the literature I've read, the mating season for Crocs in Belize is in Feb/March. People have mentioned hearing Crocs mating in our neighbourhood recently. So you are probably correct although I have no doubt that clearing of mangroves and human infringement on habitat will have us all seeing more and more crocs at close quarters.

I am so happy for you that Sri Lanka is home, safe and well. She'll dine out on those battle scars for a while, I'm sure.

Hey Jen,
Space Queen that I am, I did not notice it was you who was missing the dog.. I am so glad you found him, the croc sightings must be something!! I have not seen you for awhile and have not been able to give you my congratulations...perhaps it was your motherly instincts kicking in....

We heard a LOT of talk about the kids "wrangling" the crocs in the lagoon, teasing them with chicken & asking for donations from onlookers.

I can't verify this because we decided to avoid the area wanting to not be part of the problem, feeling that we didn't really have a right to oppose this if it's deemed locally acceptable and especially not wanting to witness something horrible if things went wrong.

Not passing judgment. In our part of the world if you are caught feeding an alligator you're fined & the gator is euthanized on the logic that once they recognize humans as a food source they will be a danger and will lose their natural fear.

Tragically I think you're right, we will see something go wrong, sooner than later.

However the location does offer an excellent opportunity to be set up as a nature reserve with guided tours. Some experienced guides do have permission to go into the area (observation only, no interaction) but only through long standing relationships with the property owner. Where the Crocs are fed is only the tip of the iceberg for the wildlife you can see in that area.

After reading this I am very worried about croc sightings. Are they all over or in specific locations? I want to know the areas to avoid them!

You could consider yourself very lucky if you were to see one in your travels around the island. You'd most likely see more in your first 9 of a Florida golf courses then you would see here in a year.

But teacher jen says shes seen them all day! Nice to know so thanks.

I was in SP last month and fished a lot of the area around the town, including the aforementioned lagoon. Each time I was there, so were the crocs. There were 2 of them, one about 7ft and the other about 10 ft.

They stayed in the water, but I didn't stay on shore gawking at them for long. I think SimonB is right that it's only a matter of time before something tragic happens. People don't realize how crafty and fast they are. A regular diet of food fed to them by humans will have the same effect there that it does here with bears. An 800 lb grizzly can run you down just as fast.

I'll be more specific about my sightings, so as not to alarm anyone:

The canal where the crocs live is actually the airstrip runoff area. It's a brown river that's a great croc habitat. Unfortunately, this is also an area where tourists like to joyride in their golf carts. We get them all the time back here and they're concentrating on their Belikins rather than driving safely. Just my observation.

On the subject of safety, I'm sure that locals and tourists taking normal precautions would be just fine. I don't want to be an alarmist. San Pedro is a fabulous place to vacation, with a colorful assortment of things to do. You're not going to be approached by a croc while you're sipping a pina colada by the pool or snorkeling the reef. If you happen to see one on the lagoon side or in Sri's off-limits croc canal, don't approach it, don't feed it, and don't patronize anyone who wants to give you a croc-feeding show. It's illegal. Just take a picture and enjoy the rest of your day.

Thanks for reading!