I Sexed a Caiman

Made you look, huh?

Before you jump to any lewd conclusions, I'll clear the air and inform you that it simply means I determined the sex of a caiman, or black caiman (Melanosuchus niger), one species of alligators found here in the Rupununi. The largest, actually. Guyana/ the Rupununi is the known as the Land of Giants - largest alligator, largest rodent (capybara), largest bugs, largest free-falling waterfall (Kaiteur Falls), largest snakes (anaconda), etc.

CH, gets it's name from studying the black caiman here. One of the several projects CH is involved in is the Caiman Project, where they go out and capture, record data and release (and recapture) the caimans around Y. To be able to preserve a species, one must know about it, is Ashley's assertion. Ashley is the current/former head man for the CP, Fernando is stepping into the reigns; it was something started by Peter, a herpetologist and one half of the couple that started the CH. It's something they've done for around four seasons now, and the other night was the first night I got to go along with them. On that night, they caught their 505th new caiman, not including the numerous recaptures they've done.

The CP started as something entirely for gathering empirical data, but as CH has become an eco-tourist lodge, it is something that guests are able to go out and experience, as well. I mean, wouldn't you want to watch firsthand as people capture live, wild alligators and measure them and observe them and release them with the greatest of ease and in their own backyard? I know I would. This is how I came to be able to go out with them. There are two boats - the capture boat and the guest boat. The capture team is made up of 4 men - the captain, two lightmen and the bowman or caiman wrangler. In the guest boat, when guests go, is another captain and a guide with a light as well. These lights are flood lights, powered by 12 volt batteries charged at CH beforehand. If guests don't go, they only take one boat, and work must faster and longer.

The night I went out, Brian Duncan (father to the adored Duncan boys who carried me around Mapari) as captain and Felix as guide in the guest boat. Then in the capture boat was Captain Telford, shine man Roland, leader Fernando and shine man Jose. I learned they'll switch around those roles every couple hours as to give each man the opportunity to capture and do the other roles. I asked them what to expect before we left, as they were gathering all the equipment (in a quite professional manner). They acted pretty professional and matter of fact about it all, too. Except then Felix tells me that sexing a caiman is compulsory and if I fail to do so, I won't be able to go on future trips. Of course, gathering data would not fall onto my shoulders, but allowing any and all to take part in the process is one of the many charms of the CP. Sexing a caiman involves a manual search, however, and I'm not that eager to be at one with the caians, so I call Felix's bluff, though, especially as Mike tells me to not let them boys get to me and to "do what feels right." Jose tells me of a joke Peter used to play with sexing the caiman and how he used to make it seem like sexing was down to a taste test. Felix scolds him for giving it away. Those guys...

The guests were a couple from the UK, mostly quiet, but kind. I took it upon myself to be a fellow guest, but also medium between all the boys, knowing how "they can be." But mostly, they all were quite efficient and guest-friendly. Fernando would berate me for assuming any less, but still I was pleasantly satisfied. They looked after the guests well enough, without coddling them or making the outing into this Barnum and Bailey's event. The guests were able to take in the magnitude of the scenes without the smooth talking and ooh's and aaaah's. They let the outing speak for itself; less was definitely more.

We headed down the Rupununi River from our main landing, and almost immediately caught a caiman. Fernando was the catch man. A caiman was spotted through eye shine (even in the dark of night, if you shine the flashlight about you will pick up the eyes of living creatures, in shiny pairs) and it stayed on the surface of the river long enough for Fernando to ease the snare around it's neck and tighten the hold.

The caiman put up a small fight, and we were told they had to keep the caiman in the water until it was tired enough to not be of danger to anyone. So they held it on the snare wire as they moved the boat back and forth in the water, pulling the caiman around. You could hear the thump as the caiman hit the boat. It sounded sort of harsh, but the guys assured us that it sounded a lot worse than it harmed. I found out later how true that was - the caiman's hide is THICK and STRONG! As are the caiman; we were also told that they usually won't catch a caiman on the banks because it could use the river bed as leverage to jump into the boat. Once the snare caught it secure enough, a firm snare pole went around the neck, too, and then Jose came up and taped the snout shut with electrical tape.

We went back to the main landing and as soon as the caiman was drug on land, it was completely docile. They saw it was a recapture - for every new caiman they catch, they remove some of the scutes (tail or dorsal scales) so they are able to count which number it was. This one was capture #165. This caiman was missing it's front left leg, which was interesting. They weren't sure if this happened since the last time they captured it or not. They measured its head size, snout size, feet size, belly size and other measurements. They flipped it over and measured things, then they jokingly called me to determine the sex. Ha ha, I don't think so. There's a slit, just past the beginning of the tail on the underbelly, and I watched as Jose and then Fernando stuck their finger in to feel for something (or nothing). "Male," they say, wiping their finger on their short pants.

Then, they take even more rope and tie the tail to the body and sort of put a harness on it and clip it to a pole with a scale on it to measure it's full weight as two or three of the men hoist it into the air. This one's length was almost 9 feet, it's weight, I can't remember. This caiman sat so quietly and put up so little of a fight, I admit, it was sort of anticlimactic. Though, still, it was thrilling to run my hands down the underbelly of it, feeling as the squares of smooth scales moved around, and feel of the bumpy stretchy skin on it's sides. I accidentally brushed over 'the slit' and quickly move away. I think I heard Jose chuckle in the background. I learned that though the caiman has 5 digits on the hind legs, there's only 3 claws, and there's 4 digits on the forelegs, but only 3 have claws.

The release of this caiman (and every other one) was the most exciting and unpredictable time. Ropes were slowly removed until it was just held by the snare pole and a taped shut snout. A rope was put over the snout that kept it closed but could be pulled open from a tug (from far away) and the tape was removed as Fernando sat on the caiman's back, pulling the snout almost perpindicular to the ground. Once the tape was loosed, the snare was removed and all men ran back. I didn't honestly think a caiman would come after me, and even if it did, I knew they are far more slow on land than they are in the water, but still, I made sure I had my little flashlight on and looked behind me for available routes of escape. Fernando had asked me to shine the light from the boat, a task I'm sure was simply meant to keep me out of harm's way (the entire capture crew was equipped with headlights), but I still shone as if it were a highly important task.

The caiman just sat there, facing the water, seemingly unaware that it was free to go. Roland slammed his hand down on the nose of one of the boats, scaring both the caiman and myself. It finally slid into the water. Between the next capture, we saw two snakes, one medium sized (3 or 4 feet) brown one laying out on a tree branch, and then a bigger (5 or 6 feet) orange tree boa coiled in a branch that Felix pulled us directly underneath. No guard rails here! It was utterly beautiful. We also saw squirrel monkeys, iguanas and spectacle caimans in between the first and second capture. The second caiman capture was more exciting. This one was past 11 feet and put up a fight, snapping at the boat and everything!

The time came to sex it, and Fernando and the rest teased. I had told Mike I'd do it only if it was the right time. I figured I wasn't really opposed to it per se and I might as well do it now and catch them off guard and not have to get harped about it for enough time in the future. So, without further ado, I kneeled down, streched out my ringed middle finger and dove in. "I don't feel anything," I say and pull out. "A girl, maybe?" Fernando says "Try it again," and I half think he's just getting me to do it again, but also half think if I'm actually doing this I might as well be 100% sure. "What am I supposed to be feeling for - OH!" It's a male and I'm surprised by it and reflexively pull out quickly. "It's male," I report, unnecessarily. Jose confirms. And so, I sex a caiman.

Fernando announces to the guests that they will continue for a few hours, but their captain and guide will carry them back to CH now, if that's ok with them. I prepare to go back with the guests, but Fernando says they have space for me if I want. They have room for me in the action boat? Hell yeah! I jump in, excitedly, not caring that it's a school night or that my hand could really use some antibacterial gel. I get assigned shine man duty and sit in the back with Telford as Jose assumes the catch man position. We catch three more caimans that night. I felt the boat get pulled and thrashed about by two 11 footers and another smaller one (the only female we caught that night - I didn't sex that one, but I had a feeling about it.) We also almost catch a capybara, and a school of piranha jump at our boat, almost right at me. The men laugh, sip coffee and catch and I diligently shine my light up and down the river until I can't keep my eyes open. It was a spectacular night.