Reptile & Amphibian Forums

Do you have anymore croc pics? Or any snake, lizard or other animal photos from the wild side of the planet?
I would really love to see some,
JQP.

I'll scout around. I have a few, but almost all of my good pics are slides, b/ I give slide presentations.

There is always the half hour Nat Geo special, called "Orincoco crocodiles" - or is it "Crocodiles of the Orinoco"? Whichever, they did a half hour film of us visitng a remote site where the crocs still live in the wild (there are still only a few hundred left), and us catching one (of course) that was released years ago as a baby, part of WCS's reintroduction program. The area where we lived was a site for reintroduction, along with another tourist station we frequented, so we helped a bit with the program. Plus, my friend in Venezuela is one who raises them in captivity til they are to be released.
Probably the most interesting part of that film is we went back to an area where the native people "flushed out" the croc biologists who were at a tiny, makeshift research station, that is, they decided they didn't want the biologists there (long, convoluted story), so they set out to kill them. They burned the research building, but luckily the biologists were gone. We were the first people since then, ~10 years later, to go back and make contact with them to ask about what happened. We did NOT tell them we were biologists! They don't typically kill the corcs - too big, too dangerous, too shy to catch - but they do eat the eggs if they find them. When we told them there were very few crocs (and thus eggs) left in the world, they responded by saying, all the more reason to hunt for the eggs, since they might be the ones getting to eat the last batch ever....sigh. Conservation at its finest?

Anyway, if you want to take a trip to see Orinoco crocs - and anacondas, probably, depending on time of year - up close, save your $ and take a trip to Hato El Frio El Frio biological Station ( it is mostly a tourist station, where they do a little research) in the llanos of Venezuela. A vey cool place, reasonably priced for what you get. I haven't met the new managers of El Frio, but I hear they are good people.
As soon as I have time - and the funding - I'll be heading back.
Now through April is the perfect time to go - dry season. Now, if people wanted to pay a tour guide...

Renee

Not a croc, but still a good-looking caiman. He (she?) is eating an orange-bellied pirana I caught and tossed to him. Spoiled caimans.

R

That is the coolest Camen picture I have ever seen.