St. Thomas & St. John, U.S. Virgin Islands November 2009

[Philth]

Nice vacation, returned with some pics too share. My first stop was St. Thomas, about 50 miles east of Puerto Rico. Some views after arriving.

The port, cruise ships dock at

driving around...

Later, Tom

 

[un33dit]

Hey...I see they were expecting you! They put out the rainbow instead of the red carpet;P


...Where are the spider pictures?!?!?!?

-Gary

 

[Philth]

Haha Gary!....Lots of pics to go through, spider pics on there way.

My first night I arrived late so I took a short walk down to the beach just to check things out on the rocks...

My first spider encounter, just a few feet from the ocean water.

Later, Tom

 

[Philth]

Most millipedes I saw where on trees or climbing something

but not all of them...

Later, Tom

 

[Philth]

Cyrtopholis burrows are everywhere on ST. Thomas. I mean everywhere. Its not un common to find one burrow and then find another 30 or 40 close buy. Sometimes as close as 6 inches apart from one another. I came home with more picturs of holes in the ground than any other trip I've ben on haha.

Cyrtopholis habitat.

Later, Tom

 

[Philth]

Cyrtopholis are deep down there burrows during the day but come a few inches from the top at night. They are easily tickled to the surface but are reluctant to leave the saftey of there holes.

Later, Tom

 

[Philth]

On a rare occasion you can get one that is hungry enough to come all the way out.
Cyrtopholis sp. St. Thomas

Later, Tom

 

[UrbanJungles]

That's a good looking spider Tom!

 

[syndicate]

Great photos Tom!Thanks for sharing!
Def a very nice looking species to!You see any other tarantulas out there?
I was curious if any dwarf species may range into those islands.
-Chris

 

[tarcan]

sweet pictures Tom, thanks for sharing. This Cyrtopholis sp. is quite gorgeous!

 

[Philth]

Thanks fellas,

Chris on St. John I found a couple of other sp. ( that i will get to later in this thread) including a small Holothele, but if by dwarf you mean Cyriocosmus, there not found on these islands.

Later, Tom

 

[Philth]

Ultimate male Cyrtopholis sp. A very dead one. Only mature male I found on this trip

Later, Tom

 

[Philth]

Random St. Thomas pics...

Anoles

sphaerodactylus ?

Later, Tom

 

[pato_chacoana]

Great pics! :clap: Congrats on the trip, really beautiful palces!!! The Cyrtopholis are good looking indeed. Good to hear they are found in large populations.
Keep posting

Cheers,
Pato

 

[Philth]

Thanks Pato,
These Iguana's were fighting a few feet away from me. Its human instinct to break them up, but of course I let nature takes its course. Eventually the larger one took off, here's to the underdog!

Later, Tom

 

[Philth]

The port pictured above at night...

My last night on St. Thomas in the morning I will get up early and take the fery over to St. John where I will spend my last few nights.

Later, Tom

 

[Philth]

St. John

St. john is a beautiful Island. Much more wild life can be found on this Island. Unfortunatly for us, St. John experienced heavy rains the week before I arrived, resulting in a massive mosquito population during our stay. We made the best of it but sure put a damper on our trip....

taking the fery over...

View on St. John

Later, Tom

 

[Philth]

My little tent cottage that I stayed in, this was an incredible place to sleep, and the whole area was filled with wildlife, with a quick walk to the beach.

with the help of a black light scorpions could be found in , on, and around the tent.

 

[Philth]

Amblypigids found on the rocks

Later, Tom

 

[Philth]

A snake on St. John :? Anybody have a ID for this one. It was living under a board that was under my tent. It was about 12 - 15 inches long.

Later, Tom