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CROCODOPOLIS world of crocodilians TM SCIENCE · CULTURE · INDUSTRY · NEWS · COMMUNICATION · CONSERVATION
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BLOGS
Publisher/Editor
March 1, 2007
Dieter & Dupont Strike Florida Or, A Nail-biting Chronicle of My Four Days with Chris Dieter
What a week.
I had the pleasure of spending my week among fellow crocoholics, spanning the State of Florida, topped off by the Tomistoma Task Force fundraiser in Miami (A report on the fundraiser will be published here soon).
My friend Chris Dieter from Angleton, Texas (just south of Houston) flew over to Central Florida and toured some of the area's croc facilities with me. We stopped at David Day's Crocodile Creek in Bushnell, where he was kind enough to show us around his facility, and we helped him sex some young Dwarf Crocodiles (Osteolaemus tetraspis tetraspis) and afterward swapped stories.
David was nice enough to accompany us to nearby Glades Herp, where co-owner Robbie Keszey toured our little group in his van around his 40 acres of croc ponds, turtle enclosures and animal buildings.
(On a side note, Chris and I went to the Pittsburgh Pirates Spring Training Stadium in Bradenton, where we ignored the NO TRESPASSING signs and goofed off on the ball field. It had been Chris' boyhood dream to see the place, and he was beside himself, even running the bases while I video-filmed it! And we got out of there without being caught.)
On the way to Miami, taking Hwy. 27, we visited Gatorama in Palmdale, right near West bank of Lake Okeechobee. We had a nice chat with Patty Register and son Ben. Ben performed his short program with a 13'-foot plus alligator named Mighty Mike, and gave us the nickel tour of the park.
They have a large American Crocodile (Crocodylus acutus), Goliath, who I'm told nearly chomped two keepers who were painting the fore slab of his enclosure. Ben showed me were Flavio Morrissiey, one of the painters, had to leap onto the tin roof of the covered walkway to escape those jaws. "See that?" Ben asked, pointing to a huge flap of a dent in the tin roof. "That's were Flavio landed."
This seemingly sedentary croc unexpectedly burst from the pool and nearly got Flavio on his way out. (Your reflexes are still in tact, Flav.) Of course, Flavio is no stranger to these. As General Curator at Gatorland, he worked with many large acutus, including the 14'- 4" Alf, who died about a year ago.
On much of the Hwy. 27 drive, one can see the Australian Pine trees lining the canals on the roadside. I told Chris how I used to travel the area with my father for the family business catching Corn snakes in those trees, and going at night for anoles, catching hundreds of them in a couple of hours. We passed the muck fields of Clewiston and Belle Glade, where the king snakes, less abundant then when I was a kid, hide under bark and discarded tin and plywood on the canal banks.
Before reaching Miami, we made a stop at Strictly Reptiles in Hollywood, and owner Ray Van Nostrand, who I've known since I was just a little brat, kindly toured us around his current selection of herps, and Dieter was amazed at the sheer volume of reptiles and amphibians in the facility. Coming from Texas and Pennsylvania, he's never seen the heart of the reptile trade like this. As for crocs, he had quite a few American Alligators (Alligator mississippiensis) and Smooth-fronted Caimans (Paleosuchus trigonatus), adults and hatchlings.
We landed at our hotel n US Hwy. 1 in Kendall (South of Miami), and spotted Ralf Sommerlad at the entrance from the highway as we pulled up. Another familiar face popped up, Kent Vliet (and John Thorbjarnarson, or John T., for short). We met some other croc blokes, too, as we pulled in, since most of us had rooms on the same balcony, all in a row. I felt sorry for the hotel management.
We caravanned to dinner at Tony Roma's. Among the group were Flavio, Uthen Youngprapakorn from Thailand, Gatorland's Tony Pigtain and his wife, and Donny Tonak.
The next morning my sister Hillary, also a crocodilian/animal handler, met up with us from West Palm Beach. Together we and our dinner group from the night before went to Zoological Imports, where proprietor Mario Tabraue was gracious enough to let us freely tour his five acres of animals and nursery.
Mario did a double take when Uthen handed him his business card. "I have your crocodiles here!" he said to Uthen. "I know," Uthen said. The crocs being held there were beautiful pale-skinned animals. Ironically, dozens of exotic lizards were scurrying about the croc enclosures, where they had plenty of shade and water. and the crocs didn't seem to mind. The lizards were a sign that we were in South Florida, infamous for the plethora of loose exotic species invading the local ecosystems.
Among the animals we met there were a binturong, many different birds, gibbons, squirrel monkeys, a kangaroo, camels and donkeys.
We proceeded to the home of Jose Novo, who lives about 10 minutes away. Jose is a croc handler who works at Everglades Safari Park. He has a private collection of crocs, all housed in enclosures dug from the limestone crust of the neighborhood. This stone gave the pens and pools a very interesting look. Jose told us how difficult it was cutting through it with heavy equipment. The limestone also gives the water a whitish quality, and when three Nile crocs came out of the water to bask, the sight of these 'ghostly' crocs was almost surreal.
Later in the evening we departed for Miami Metrozoo for the Tomistoma Task force fundraising event. The zoo put out quite a spread for us, and is was exciting to see croc folk of different ages and nationalities. Burce Shwedick was proudly carrying Pip, the subadult Tomistoma (Malayan Gharial, Tomistoma schlegelii). Colin Stevenson was manning the reception table, while Ralf, Joe Wasilewski and other volunteers and members of the TTF were scurrying about making sure all was well. I know I'm leaving some folks out, and I hope they forgive me.
The silent auction was just that...when I and other attendees toured the room to see what was being offered, everyone was whispering! It was pleasing to see so many items donated, paintings, photos, artwork, tours, park tickets, etc.
We had a spicy chicken dinner followed by the main presentation by the National Geographic Society's Brady Barr. Brady narrated a slide show featuring images from his travels, climaxing in a report on his work with Malayan Gharials. I was disappointed that we didn't get to see that television footage from SuperCroc in which Brady, his leg swiped underwater by an Indian Gharial (Gavialis gangeticus), screeches like a girl. That's primo entertainment.
Among the folks I saw or got to chat with there were (in no particular order) Greg Lepera, Chris Hunter, Matt Harris, Ken Rice, Allen Woodward, Uthen, John Brueggen, Kevin Wilson, Flavio, Jose, Tony, Mei Len Sanchez-Barr, Kent, John T., Steve Connors, and many more (yeah, I'm missing many here, but you get the idea).
After the presentation we returned to the dining area for the live auction, and live it was. Joe presided over the sale, auctioning off all manner of goods, and the audience participation was lively.
Later that night at the hotel, Uthen entertained Chris, Donny and myself with tales and photos of his animal/croc parks in Thailand. I was so exhausted and sleepy but I fought it so I could here everything Uthen had to say.
Sunday morning, Chris and I visited Parrot Jungle Island. Joe, who is the herp curator there, was most generous in getting us complimentary admission to the park. Joe's reptile show, which featured snakes and crocodilians, was top notch. Then, to top that, we were taken into the enclosure of Hank, the giant hybrid crocodile (from Uthen's park in Samutprakarn). We were really thrilled we got to go in next to this massive saurian.
On the way home the next day, Chris and I drove across Alligator Alley, where Chris was blown away by the sheer numbers of alligators in the canal on the North side of the road. At some points, there were six or seven basking in a cluster. The specimens we saw averaged about 7 feet in length. Chris almost swears he saw a Burmese python, too. I wouldn't doubt it.
We stopped at Tampa International Airport were Chris departed for home and I returned home about an hour away. I took a hot shower and dove into my big leather reading chair and thought that I was so crocked out I wouldn't want to talk about crocs again for at least a month.
I was wrong, of course, because I ended up writing this.
End of blog.
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ARCHIVE
Chris Dieter, Pittsburgh native, in all his glory. (Photo: I. Dupont)
Goliath, waiting for a painter. (Photo: I. Dupont)
Donny Tonak and Hillary Dupont, pose at an Indopacific Crocodile (Crocodylus porosus) enclosure at Zoological Imports. (Photo: C. Dieter)
A ghostly Nile Crocodile (Crocodylus niloticus) from the Jose Novo collection. (Photo: C. Dieter)
Beasts: Me and Hank. Hank is the one in the water. (Photo: C. Dieter) |
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