homework questions

Since you mentioned them, here are the results of my findings on Hutia. A member of my delegation to Nicaragua swore such things existed. We thought he was in an alcohol induced stupor caused by the vodka I had pilfered despite the ley seca.
quoted:

There has recently been heated discussion within the consortium over the purported existence of "Banana Rats." Many suspected that this was a creation of drunken seafarers, such as the mermaid legends of old. Others suspected bats or Zarigueya (Opossum). In the faithful execution of my duties as President, I have dispensed forthwith a definitive finding, submitted for the full ratification of the consortium.

As it turns out, the proponents of the Banana Rat are vindicated. The Banana Rat is the Capromys Pilorides, also known as the Hutia. It is found in variations throughout Cuba, Jamaica and the Bahamas. From the website Xrefer:
A large rodent of the family Capromyidae (which also includes the coypus), found in Cuba and the West Indies. Hutias are 20-60 cm long excluding the naked tail (3-30 cm). They are mainly vegetarian and are either diurnal and arboreal (genus Capromys; 4 species) or nocturnal and terrestrial (genus Geocapromys; 3 species).

Like Nicaragua's Sandina, The Banana Rat has a true history of interaction with the U.S. Marines, though not as successful as the Sandinistas. For information on the US Marines Banana Rat Interdiction, please see the official military archive at: http://www.nsgtmo.navy.mil/Archives/FY2000/20000317/volunteer0317.html Creature feature: GTMO volunteers clean up 'the slot'

-Loren

I have never seen a hawk here. With so few birds and small mammals it is hard to see how they could flourish, unless they went after chickens, of course. Consider that there aren't any vultures here, either, apparently for the same reason.

Concerning chickens, I've never heard farmers complain about hawks, or mongooses either, which would surely find them easy pickings.

With all due respect, I don't believe that mongooses exist here. There are no poisonous snakes to be exterminated, hence no reason to import them. An American friend who has lived many years here in the campo claims to have only seen 1 - you guessed it, at dusk, from a distance. It could have been a big rat, or cat, or small dog, or even GASP - a rabbit. So many rabbits are here in cages in the campo that surely some of them escape occasionally (although obviously not in sufficient pairs).

The owls I have seen are miniature and could probably only prey on bugs. They don't have much of a hoot, either.

Concerning roosters that can't tell time, I believe that it is the city slicker roosters kept in too small cages, confused by shadows from buildings, etc. After all, what do you expect from city slickers.

ONE FASCINATING nocturnal creature that is fairly common but I haven't seen mentioned is a giant firefly, with a light maybe 5 times as big as that of the typical firefly.

I heard from a friend that the DR is considered one of the best places to collect exotic insects...

I have seen another bug called a click bug or something like that. It is about an inch long, looks similar to a cockroach, but it has two glowing parts on the side of the head. It makes a loud clicking sound when picked up..

Concerning roosters, I was told that roosters in the D.R. crow in the day only during the Christmas and Easter seasons. No one said anything about shadows.

I have seen hawks but they were flying very high so they could have been pidgens, flying not so high.

Cats and rats and elephants? Cats and rats, yes, and I did see one elephant in Santo Domingo. Long necked geese, yes, flying over the northern part of the country, heading south. I saw ducks in the same place, flying in the same direction.

I hve not really seen any live camels but I saw a picture of one. He was smoaking a cigeratte.

HB! What are those little animals that run across the highways in the areas of the cane fields. Muskrats? Ferrets? There is a Dominican name for them but I do not know the translation.

Owls? They are not "Hootie" owls. They are barn owls and there are a lot of them in the country. I used to see a lot of them on the road going up to Camp David Ranch, when they first put the street lights up there. I have not been up that way in the last few years so, I do not know if they are still there.

Please try and find a copy of Anabela Dodd's great book on Domiican Bords. there are perhaps 8 or 9 species of hawks native to the island. All are endangered.

As for the juron/mongoose: It was imported here about the same time it was imported into Hawaii, also considered a grave mistake nowadays. I have seen lots of them at dusk and at dawn, and we have captured and killed many of them on the university grounds. they are definately pests and carriers of rabies, as you should know.

In a hurry today,

HB

At last, a definite testimonial!

Strange though that they should apparently be more numerous in the city than the country.

I think it's ardilla (squirrel)

I think that I saw some in a yard in Jarabacoa (from a distance of course) a couple of years ago.

Can anyone confirm this?

If so, over how great an area do they occur?