We went beyond the limits of "La Vuelta" today, and took the jeep through a bumpy sandstone road at the end of the main boardwalk. The road cut northward through the more jungle like part of the Island and we emerged at the dock to "La Isla de la Passion" (The Island of Passion). Julio tells me that it used to be connected to Cozumel via an ithsmus for part of the time, and was therefore a part of Cozumel. Since we're talking about the Northern Reserve part of Cozumel, that would make Passion Island off limits to development.
There are rumors and suspicions that someone modified the hydrology to choke off that sand bridge and separate the little island from its big sister. Thats the rumor anyway.
What is true is that when we got off the pier, there were a whole bunch of racoons hanging around begging for food. I know you're not supposed to feed the animals, because they become dependent and all that, but the fact is that people love to feed the animals! There has to be a way to make that fact work for the environment. Any ideas?
These were some of the most docile, friendly racoons I've ever seen, and they ate right out of people's hands! Check out the videos below:
Yes, the camera moves about and the video could be shorter, but look at those little raccoons!
The racoon was curious about my camera, but I was afraid it would get mad when it realized it wasn't food.
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2 comments:
hehe, they ARE cute. also the skinniest raccons i've ever seen! however, another reason this "don't feed the wildlife" thing makes me nervous is because raccoons are rabies vectors. maybe that's not a concern on an island, but its something that everyone was made very cognizant of the summer i worked at a wildlife vet clinic. this was this once raccoon brought in - it was really sad because it was totally tame, had been kept as someone's pet. but the owner got bitten and they had to put it to sleep to do a brain biopsy to see if it might have rabies...(PEOPLE don't keep wild animals as pets!!)
oh yes, I forgot to mention, these are pygmy racoons, and they're endemic to the Island of Cozumel. Which I think explains their skinnyness.
On the rabies vectors, I hadn't thought of that... very interesting. Did the racoon end up having rabies?
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