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Ricardo Arduengo / AP
A caiman is held with a pole in a holding tank at the home of Daniel Montanez in Vega Baja, Puerto Rico, on Wednesday.
VEGA BAJA, Puerto Rico -- When heavy rains begin to pelt a flood-prone neighborhood along Puerto Rico's north coast, people start sharpening their knives and preparing their lassoes.
The floods herald the arrival of caimans, a close relative of the alligator, whose population has exploded in and around the lagoon next to Los Naranjos neighborhood in the coastal city of Vega Baja.
The scaly reptiles have been spotted prowling around schools and crawling into flooded yards after rains, causing both widespread panic and curiosity in the community.
Calls to government officials to help catch the reptiles and take measures to prevent further flooding have been futile. So now, the residents of Los Naranjos have been forced to face their fears and become caiman catchers themselves in this community of scarce resources where some still ride horses bareback as transportation. Among the rudimentary equipment at their disposal: Wire, duct tape and metal poles.
People taught themselves the trick to hunting caimans, sometimes learning from others how to rope them in and tape their mouths shut. They've also mastered the art of flashing lights into the brackish waters of the nearby lagoon until they spot pairs of squinty green eyes gleaming just above the surface.
Ask anyone in this coastal neighborhood if they know someone who traps and kills caimans, and the reply is likely a peal of laughter. The question is akin to asking who hunts for crabs, neighbors say. Everyone does it.
Caimans are found across Puerto Rico, especially its north coast, but the island's biggest population is in Vega Baja, site of the Tortuguero Lagoon, a natural reserve, said Angel Atienza, wildlife director of the island's Department of Natural Resources.
"They have always lived there, they have always reproduced there," he said. "There are thousands there."
Ricardo Arduengo / AP
Daniel Montanez, lifts a caiman from his backyard holding tank in Vega Baja, Puerto Rico. on Wednesday.
After seeing a caiman cross a road near the elementary school where she's the director, Johanna Rosado ordered chaperones to accompany children when they go to the bathroom following heavy rains, just as a precaution. She said the school is surrounded by a chain-link fence but is trying to raise money to build a concrete wall.
"It's one thing to hear about it and it's another to see it with your own eyes," Rosado said. "I lived it. Now I believe it happens."
The creatures are native to Central and South America, but were introduced to Puerto Rico by stores such as Woolworth's that sold baby caimans the size of lizards as pets during the 1960s and 70s, Atienza said. When the caimans began to grow, people released them into the wild, where females rapidly reproduced, laying up to 40 eggs at a time. The island's government authorizes hunting caimans since they're considered non-native species.
"They have no natural enemies," Atienza said. "They go into people's homes. In Vega Baja, they recently went into someone's yard."
Tania Otero, 40, remembers the day.
She was outside with her 17-year-old son a couple months ago when she heard the dogs bark.
"My son tells me, 'Mom, I think there's something back there,'" Otero recalled.
As she rounded the corner, she saw a 4-foot-long specimen exploring the grounds.
"My son jumped up to the roof," she said. "I climbed the porch railing."
Otero's father heard their screams from inside the house and called Daniel Montanez, a 58-year-old neighbor who has earned a reputation as one of the best caiman catchers in Los Naranjos.
Montanez arrived with one of his sons carrying a homemade lasso and trapped the caiman as it thrashed its thick tail about. He then took his prey home, where he keeps a makeshift tank filled with nearly 30 caimans. That bounty is a source of pride.
"Listen, all that is for...," he stopped mid-sentence as he pointed to the tank, rubbed his stomach and broke into a big grin.
As expected, the Montanez family said the meat tastes like chicken as long as it's marinated in lemon or orange juice to first take away the fishy taste. Then they fry it, saute it or grill it. What the family doesn't eat is sold to interested buyers.
A fisherman by trade, Montanez said the caimans first caught his eye during night fishing expeditions. Now, neighbors call him if they have a problem with the reptiles.
Visitors also stop by to gawk at his teeming tank. On a recent afternoon, Montanez grabbed a metal pole with a wire lasso, dipped it into the tank and pulled out a nearly 3-foot-long specimen. Suddenly, the wire at the end of the pole broke, and the caiman made a run for freedom.
Watching from a distance, Montanez's son-in-law, 34-year-old Albert Santos, also made a run for it as Montanez laughed.
"That one gets scared," Montanez said. Nearly everyone in the family except Santos helps catch caimans.
Even Santos's wife, 33-year-old Enid Montanez, has learned the trade. She accompanies her father when the waters begin to rise, spotting caimans and helping wrestle them until their snout is wrapped shut. She then plops them into her car and brings them home, dropping them into the tank.
Killing them is tedious labor. On a recent night, Montanez and three of his grandsons caught a 2-foot-long caiman from the tank and spent an hour cutting and cleaning the body. At the end, only one grandson, the youngest, had the patience to stay and help.
Hiram David Rivera, 32, said he fishes the reptiles to sell to a taxidermist, who in turn sells the stuffed creatures to tourists. Rivera recalled that he and a friend recently caught a 6-foot-long caiman on a hunting trip nearly gone wrong. As the two pulled the reptile into the boat, his friend's grasp slipped and the caiman snapped his mouth shut, nearly biting the friend.
"He almost lost his hands," Rivera said. "That's 90 pounds of pressure in their jaw."
Despite the scare, Rivera said he will persist in the hunt.
"They are everywhere," he said. "The lagoon is packed with them."
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Leave a Comment:
Cue the animal rights/PETA wackos . . .
Alligator farms are big business in Florida. The hides are worth a fortune and the meat is sold to Europe.
This article did answer one VERY important question, ARE THEY GOOD EATIN?
"The Montanez family said the meat tastes like chicken as long as it's marinated in lemon or orange juice to first take away the fishy taste. Then they fry it, saute it or grill it."
Served with garlic and butter fried mango on a bed of steamed brown rice........ Ummmmm Yummy.
...marinaded caimans....yum... with beer..that's a dream vacation
They're gooooooddddd!!!! gator (or caiman) bites with beer... Ummmm I second pigotry...
You guys are killing me, 4:30 AM PST and I'm ready to grill me some Caiman and crack a beer. No Caiman here so I have to settle for beer.
That's some funny stuff DevlsAdvacut....crack a beer for me!
Funny EVERYTHING tastes like chicken, you would think KFC would too but ....nope...they still havent figured it out.
In Puerto Rico people are hungry. If you were hungry, you wouldn't ask how food tastes. You'd be grateful for that you had something to eat, BigAl.
If you can't beat em, eat em.
Lacoste
The cost
Hmm, daddy could use a new pair of shoes...
BBQ heaven
Look for an increase on the store shelves of reptilian fashions soon.
yep if such hubs of "glamor and fashion" like wally world would put in an order their would be none left in a month.
GM chefaz.. ( and no, no final decision yet.)
@Scooter Tramp - Love that KFC thing - ROTFL!
You know, if the US wasn't so damn set on preserving alligators, crocodiles, hippopotami and elephants, everyone in Africa would be very well fed. At least Florida has come to its senses and put a bounty on pythons in the Everglades.
The pythons in the Glades are non-native and destroying the environment, just as the Caimans in Puerto Rico are non-native. They should have come up with this hunt a while ago. Not sure what nutritional value Caimans would provide but...it is protein.
Mathuin, it's people like you that make me dislike humans. Maybe if Africans would use birth control they wouldn't outstrip the land and be hungry. But as Mr. Smith said in The Matrix, humans are a virus who consume everything in their path, thus destroying what they depend on.
mathuin: Using wild animals for meat is not at all sutainable. A human population can wipe out an animal one in a few decades. That's why certain animals (cows, pigs, goats, chickens) were domesticated and bred for optimum production since ancient times.
You don't need a bounty. You need a recipe.
But these animals are a non-native, invasive species, Robert. The GOAL is to get rid of them.
Robbie-1437294, since humans are a "virus", and you clearly think animals are more important, then why don't you "go first". In other words, you can go kill yourself, so there is more room for the important species on the planet. OK?
Robbie, Africans are so poor they can barely afford food. How can they afford birth control? Girls and women are not in control of their bodies. Many of them are still sold to their husbands and as indentured servants by their parents who cannot afford to feed them. The US provided condoms and birth control for African countries, but Bush defunded that program. HIV infection rates increased as a result.
If their parents sent their girls to school (which is not free) they have to stop at puberty. Most girls aren't considered important enough to educate. If they do get to go to school, when they reach menarche they have to drop out because there is no money to buy sanitary pads or tampons. They're too expensive.
These are countries where people go barefoot and get their water from common wells. They have common outdoor latrines or pit toilets. Most Africans have a plant-based diet because they can't afford to eat meat. Unless you're a vegan, you eat animal products. You likely have hot and cold running water in your home and a flush toilet as well as electricity. You've likely been vaccinated against diseases that have killed children they know.
You live a life of privilege, Robbie. Your carbon footprint is much larger than the average African's footprint. Perhaps you shouldn't be pointing your finger. Learning about other cultures is fascinating, isn't it? Did you know the education level is so low that in Africa there are men who are raping little girls because medicine men told them it would cure their HIV? A newborn baby was raped, a tiny little girl.
When this happens it spreads the disease to the child and her family throws her out into the street. The rape victim is always blamed for being gang raped. When a pregnancy occurs both the child and her child are ostracized.
But why explain this to you? You seem to lack compassion for humanity. Then again, what else would be expected from someone who gets their philosophy from a film? I feel sorry for you.
Robert757A
" Using wild animals for meat is not at all sutainable. A human population can wipe out an animal one in a few decades."
Not true-people have been hunting rabbits,squirrels, deer ,elk,feral hogs-("wild" boars),grouse,waterfowl,wild turkeys,etc. ever since Europeans came to north America,and for well over a century since the beginning of the north American model of game managemnt was first used.
Game species are managed for healthy populations,with a sustainable harvest. You do not harvest the females if you want big game populations to increase,you do harvest females if you want the population to decrease. Same with game like most waterfowl,wild turkeys,pheasants,etc.
The land is also manged so that suitable habitat is provided. By managing game populations-all wildlife benefits.
The caimans are a non-native,invasive species in Puerto Rico,that should be hunted aggressively,to reduce the population,and allow native species to thrive.
Africa's food problems would have been solved if people reverted to cannibalism. That is a normal biological course for many stressed populations. Polynesia, New Guinea, and many other islands have gone through that course.
I already have some caiman cowboy boots. One can get "head cut" or "tail cut" boots and they look similar to alligator boots. They're easy to find at any Western wear store. I got mine in Dallas.
Technically, items are not "imported" from Puerto Rico, since it is part of the U.S.
GreenBeans, Your next pair could be imported from Puerto Rico...LOL
PR has been a part of the US since 1917.
Jay, they voted to become a state in the recent election. Get ready for a new American flag.
Here in New Orleans this "problem" would look like a bumper crop. We prepare them in sauce piquante.
Now THAT'S a recipe I'd like to have.
Soak the tail meat in a little lemon, orange and milk overnight. (milk is the most important thing).
Drain it.
Flour it and fry it.
Tastes great.
What's black, non-native and a nuisance....if you guessed Obsama, go to the head of the class...
Miaw- Congratulations! You get the award for gratuitous, first hateful political comment on a non-political thread!
Miaw...it would be nice if you showed evidence that you've ever actually attended a class in a real school. Your post demonstrates that you've probably never even walked BY a school, much less attended one.
...and thanks so much for bringing right-wing whacko politics into a discussion that has nothing to do with politics. Here's hoping one of those caimans makes it's way into your house while you're sleeping and decides you'd make a good snack.
Gator is a bit chewy I imagine caimen is also but hey it doesnt belong there so eat the hell out of em
It's not if it's prepared right, I live in Texas and have eaten gator here many times, but absolutely NO ONE can cook up some gator like the cajuns in Louisiana!
needs garlic
Get rid of them the American way - Cash ---- Put a bounty on them and stand back
I have got to eat some of these gator tails and caiman - frog legs too! Heard they both are tasty, but I have never tried any, and I live in Florida now.
Definitely on my things to eat list, before I croak (no pun, frogs).
Miaw, are you still butthurt about the election? OT: I'd like to try caiman sometime.
Tastes like chicken!
I've had rattlesnake. I wouldn't be surprised to find that most reptiles taste a lot alike.
Caimans are cute, too bad they are too stupid to make good pets.
that's what Caimans said about Morlack's .......but what do they know.......
These people need shotguns. Much more effective than kitchen knives and ropes.
But then you have to pick the lead out. The only time I had wild duck, we all spent the time spitting out the shot. Knives and ropes don't mess up the meat.
learn to lead the duck........
Nope. Shoot the caiman in the head, eat the tail.
See how easy.
Fight back with Marinade? Ahhhh........that does not sound like a fight, I want to conted with.
Can I just throw in the towel now.........I would not want to be in anybodies marinade........lol.
The 'Caiman' islands.... hmmmm....
Cayman Islands. They have caiman, too.
Had it many yrs ago at Bentley's in Key Largo.....was pretty damn good....went back more than once after that.....but the article about the situation in Vega Baja I a bit exaggerated....in Puerto Rico the population density will curtail the numbers of any critter ....not empty spaces left almost.....opposite to Florida.....