History
A Paradiseof Birds
Will Jackson
One of the greatest blessingsof the Cayman Islands from earliest settlement was that therewere no wild and ferocious animals on any of the three islands.Grand Cayman being the largest of the three seems to have hada greater degree of opportunity to have produced dangerous animalsin its wild, uninhabited state, but I think this is proof enoughthat the islands were never connected to any where other thanthe ocean. While there are snakes to be founds on the islands,they are completely harmless to humans.
It is said that alligatorswere seen on both Grand Cayman and Little Cayman during earlytimes, but they no doubt were only the large iguanas, which inhabitedboth islands and may yet be found, though not so plentiful asin times past. Little Cayman is a breeding ground for the iguanaseven now.
Cayman Brac, with its highelevation and many crevices in the rocks that border the ocean,is a habitat of sea birds such as the Boobies and their othercousins. Little Cayman also shelters many birds. Little Caymanwas once a fishing kingdom, but just now is being over fishedin recent years, even though many visitors are being constantlyattracted to vacation there. There are also some good catchesout there. The island is fast becoming a world popular dive spot,even though the modern developments around the island are robbingthe place of its beautiful originality.
There are not too many ofthe old style Caymanian dwellings to be seen there.
While Cayman Brac and LittleCayman were havens for the seabirds; Grand Cayman with its manyswamps and ponds attracted a great lot of waterfowls throughoutthe length and width of the island. Of these the settlers tookadvantage with their old bridge loaders and ramrod guns. Eventhe iguanas found themselves on many Sunday dinner tables, termedas a very special dish. These were really the only wild game onthe island, except for the smaller game, such as the white bellydoves and the bald Paites, which seemed to have been here fromthe very beginning.
The brown rabbits cursed and hated by farmers, made their appearance here only inthe 1920s when a man by the name of Levi Bodden brought a pairof pets from Honduras and then let them run free, thus infestingthe entire island in only a couple of years. They soon becamethe island's pest to cultivators, they destroyed everything theyfound on the earth or under the soil. The people soon found outthough that they were very tasty in meat form and so they startedhunting them for food as well as trying to exterminate them asdestroyers.
Fortunately for the sisterislands, rabbits never reached any one of the islands. In GrandCayman, the government paid a price for each head turned in toagriculture. They also issued poison to cultivators to set widelyin the bushes, which very scarcely lessened the population; suchfast breeders were they. Rats were plentiful and destructive,not only in the cultivations but in the dwellings as well. Atone point, they were well out of control even biting people whilethey slept at night.
Wild parrots were very plentifulin the islands and were very destructive to fruits wherever theyfound them. When fruits were scarce, they took to destroying suchthings as bananas and plantains. Peas and beans were their finestdelicacy.
Like the rabbits, parrotswere and are a very great nuisance to the cultivators. The governmentalso paid a price for their heads during the forties. However,until today, all the efforts to eradicate the parrots and therabbits remain futile. Well, so much for the small problems withwhich to endure, the great blessing to boast about is that thereis nothing detrimental to health and life in the islands.
While there are no lifethreatening sea creatures, there were indeed some that causedgreat suffering to humanity whenever the people came in contactwith them. The black sea urchins were and are a terrible companionif stood upon in the sea. Its many long, sharp prongs drive deeplyinto one's feet, not just one, but also many of them. They arevery painful and awfully hard to extract. In fact, people havebeen crippled in the foot by the sea urchins. Fortunately fortoday's sea lovers, sea urchins have for some unknown reason,have almost disappeared from the shoreline. There are still somewhite sea urchins in the turtle grass, but they are not in anyway so terrible as those black ones.
Years ago, there was a verypopular sea creature that was called numb fish, that was a mostterrible companion to come in contact with. It is indeed a fish,but one that sets himself up in little sandy spots along the shorein the turtle grass and when being approached by human just stayput and elevate the bristles along his back and head in anticipationof being stood upon. Woe be to that unlucky person who standson a numb fish. One could have a high fever and excruciating painsfor several days unless the correct treatment is applied. Theold folks wrapped the punctured areas in slices of roasted hotaloe, which they applied several times per day.
Luckily, the numb fish likethe black sea urchins have become very rare in our modern times.It is very rarely that a numb fish damage is heard of today. Someone has said that thanks to the destructive generation in whichwe live today, that even the urchins and the numb fish have takenflight from them. Well, at least for that they ought to be commended.
There used to be anothercreature, which the old folks called Sea Cats - a type of mini-octopusreally. A lot of people were afraid of them, I was really amongthe fearful ones. As a child I was wrapped by a large one thatwould have smothered me to death were it not for other kids whowere along with me. This happened one night while fishing alongthe shore. My friends pulled me up into dry sand and piled iton the creature, thus killing his squeezing power with his tentaclesso he could be pulled off me. Ever since, I have been deathlyafraid of that seas.
So, these Cayman Islandsare indeed a blessed habitation in which one can be proud to callhome. In recent years we hear of sharks biting and maiming orkilling a lot of people. It is somewhat unheard of in these islandsthat one was bitten by share. Sure sharks are out there in thesea and sometimes come very close to the shore, but not to seekhuman flesh.
There are not now too manysharks seen around, of course. They need to stay deep down fortheir own safety because they bear a high price in the supermarketsand the restaurants if one is caught. I am reminded of a certainyoung Caymanian being eaten in Kingston Harbour several yearsago, but never heard of such attacks in Grand Cayman.
The unfortunate young manwas a college student in Kingston, who along with fellow studentswent swimming in the harbour and was attacked by a large whitefin that had followed a ship into port.
An old man told me a storyof his canoe being damaged by a hammerhead shark, while he andhis partner beat the creature to death by constant blows on hisnose and head until it gave up the attack. Anyway, even thoughthere are so many snorklers and divers in these times, they seemto be one hundred percent safe from attacks.
There is one last creatureout there to mention, the eels and morays, though not vengefulcreatures but if put on the defensive will bite their way outif possible. Eels will eat out of human hands, I hear from divers.
So, while the Cayman Islandsmay seem insignificant to many dwelling in the great cities ofearth, yet they do have their great significance to the few wholive there and call them home. The Islands possess many greatqualities that qualify them as safe and healthy. The pure seabreezes that blow across the land, the fresh sea foods that canbe had all year round, the lovely safe waters in which one canrelax all day long on beautiful white sand beaches all ofthese add up to a place like no other place.
Whether one chooses to ramblethe interiors and watch the birds do their own thing; snorkelin the shallows or dive in the deep, a sense of security is alwaysthere.
There are no dangerous animalsto attack the walk through, the woodland, neither is there anythingto mar one's enjoyment in the sea. Can there be any wonder thatthe birds make the Cayman Islands their paradise and thousandsof people from the world fly long distances to enjoy the one andonly Cayman Islands!
He has founded it upon theseas and preserved it as a happy homeland. God bless these islands.
Will Jackson
Seafarer and noted
Caymanian Historian