USVI-On-Line

Minde: We stayed in a third floor apt across the street from Skinny's last year. The goats and chickens slept up the hill in the brush and each morning the goats would parade down the hill and down the street. After the goats got out of the way, the chickens would start looking for breakfast. At the time, there was a chicken with 6 small chicks. She would start squawking everytime the chicks would go near the road. All of this activity was right next to our place.

Also, every morning at 8:00 the fire department (across the street) would test their sirens.

I loved drinking my morning coffee and watching all the activity.

I miss it!

John

will keep my out for these babies when there in April, of course they'll be alot bigger by then.

they are adorable.

A few friends from November:





Sorry, a little unsharp.



Maggy

The shots from everyone are terrific!

This was taken with a non-digital camera, high noon near Ram Head. It was more then a little bit over-exposed but this one I played with using Flicker's tools and got it to this point. We never had seen these goats before, nor did we ever see them again on any of the numerous hikes we've taken up there. The horns and beards are longer then most of the goats that I've seen on STJ. They were definitely paired off,too.

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/12829989@N00/4379313677/" title="91230037 by taterjoes, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4001/437 ... 3f48_o.jpg" width="1074" height="733" alt="91230037"></a>

We never had seen these goats before, nor did we ever see them again on any of the numerous hikes we've taken up there. The horns and beards are longer then most of the goats that I've seen on STJ.

Maybe they're retirees that don't need to make the "morning commute" any longer.

What a fun post! I'll join in:

A buddy of ours at Cane Garden Bay:


A pretty lady in CA:


The ultimate party "animal" at Foxy's:

Morning Commute is aka "Rush Hour" in Coral Bay.

Handsome bald dude with a juvenile Donk.

Some of these are just too funny! LLBL, Your party animal cracked me up.

Here's one that I titled "Salt Pond Local":


<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/12829989@N00/4379772721/" title="Salt Pond Local by taterjoes, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4025/437 ... 87b2_o.jpg" width="797" height="602" alt="Salt Pond Local"></a>

Probably the same cat, possibly at the same door!

I gotta point out once again that the animals doing that morning commute in Coral Bay are not goats--they are SHEEP. Goats tails go up, sheep tails hang down. They would have wool if they were somewhere they needed it... they were by far the commonest domestic animal on St. John in the Danish colonial period when goats were few and donkeys almost non-existent. Sheep are much less devastating to native vegetation than goats.
The tortoise is a red-footed, not a yellow- footed (yeah, I know there lots of yellow and no red in the photo). It is believed by fairly reputable biologists that they were a pre-Columbian introduction to the VI.. The Tainos brought them in their canoes like canned food. They are not common, but maybe a little commoner than they used to be. Quite a number are low-maintenance pets.
Here is a mystery to contemplate: until the mid-1980s iguanas and deer, both non-indigenous animals, were very rare on St. John. You could live here 365 days a year and not see either from one year to the next. What happened?

thanks Hugo.

Unfortunately, the rum makes me forget the tail up/tail down thing...

John

OK, Hugo, I'm,as is often the case, confused. Are the animals near Ram Head pictured above, sheep or goats?

Hugo...that's an awesome question that I wondered about when we were there. Goats and sheep I can see people importing, but deer probably introduced sometime in the 70's? I wasn't aware that the iguanas weren't native. I can more easily see them coming in common shipping or as pets. The deer being there is strange.....

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