Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
make fenceposts. The posts then take root and form new trees, so be on the
lookout for a fence line of trees that look like the barbed wired runs right
through the tree - that's birch!
Fruit
The
mango
is the most plentiful fruit in the Cayman Islands, ripening in
the month of June and continuing to produce fruit through September.
The islands harvest about 65,000 pounds of this tropical treasure every
season. There are 15 different varieties of the fruit; you'll find it at road-
side stands and farmers' markets.
Guinep
(
Meliococcus bijugatus
) grows on Grand Cayman and Cayman
Brac. After a yellow flower blooms in the spring, the tree provides a har-
vest of guineps, a small fruit with a hard shell.
Wild guinep
(
Exothea paniculata
) is found on Cayman Brac and is a fa-
vorite with the birdlife population for its fruits. The parrot population
loves the black berries, which ripen in the spring.
Animal Life
A shy resident of these islands is the
agouti
(
Dasyprocta punctata
), a
rabbit-sized rodent once hunted for meat. The agouti is a Central Ameri-
can native, introduced by the early settlers. Once kept as a pet and raised
for food, today the rodent is rarely seen. The agouti has long, thin legs,
hoof-like claws with three toes on its hind feet and five toes on its forefeet.
A family of agoutis can be viewed at the Cayman Turtle Farm on Grand
Cayman (see page 189).
The
hickatee
(
Trachemys decussata
), a freshwater turtle, is found in the
freshwater and brackish ponds in the Cayman Islands and neighboring
Cuba.
Although the Cayman Islands have no poisonous snakes, you might
spot a harmless indigenous species, such as the grass snake (
Alsophis
cantherigerus
).
A favorite sighting is the
blue iguana
(
Cyclura nubila lewisi
). This vege-
tarian species can grow to a length of five feet. It's often seen sunning itself
(sometimes in the middle of the road). Little Cayman is home to over 2,000
rock iguanas (check out the “iguana crossing” signs around the island). On
Grand Cayman, you can see a large male in the Queen Elizabeth II Botanic
Park and a pair at Rum Point. Cayman Brac has a population of about 50
of these large lizards.
