Crocodilians: Natural History & Conservation: Crocodiles, Caimans, Alligators, Gharials

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PIC OF THE MONTH

Crocodilian images which reveal fascinating stories told from a visual perspective.

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To the Rescue

Two croc fight

September's Pic of the Month (actually two) comes from Cherie Chenot-Rose at ACES (American Crocodile Education Sanctuary) although her husband Vince took both pictures. They show what appears to be a dramatic fight over territory broken up by the resident male. These are wild crocodiles that live in the canal at ACES, and a new female (approx. 9 feet long) wandered into the canal looking for a place to lay her eggs. She came to blows with the resident female, a 10 feet long crocodile known as Mama Croc by the ACES team. During this altercation (top photo), a large male by the name of Stubby (12 feet long, not including half of his tail that was chopped off by poachers, and half-blind from a gunshot or spear wound) swam across to join Mama Croc in ejecting the intruding female. Although the female was eventually driven out of the territory, she succeeded in laying a half-hearted nest which she didn't cover up, a task left to the hard-working ACES team.

At this point, I'll let Cherie take over. "[The eggs] appear to be incubating just fine. The band is pretty much over the entire egg now and we believe hatching will be the second week of June with the onset of the rainy season. We have 36 acres here now and 17 crocs that have been rescued from imminent death. Both Americans and Morelet's. We have opened to private educational tours of the facility and two cabanas for interested people as a means of sustainability. The ability to research both captive and wild crocs is amazing here and they do interact through jaw smacking and tail slapping. We are located in southern Belize and the facility is ideal for researchers of biodiversity as well as Crocodilians as we have on property troops of Howlers, Toucans, Tapir, Fer de Lances, Red-tail Boas (largest was 12 feet) and even a black jaguar we see now and again. We would love to work with a university as an extension program."

Would you like to enter your best photograph as a potential Pic of the Month? Send it to me and I'll include the best here each month. The very best photos at the end of the year usually receive a prize - something small but suitably crocodilian. To be in contention the picture must, above all, capture your attention.