On Monday, a wandering reptile brought rush hour traffic to a halt along the South-bound lane of the Uriah Butler Highway as it made its way across the highway near the Caroni Swamp.
Luckily for the four-foot long caiman, traffic came to a stop and a motorist had to use unusual methods to coax the frightened reptile back to its natural habitat.
The Uriah Butler Highway separates the marshland of Caroni Swamp.
A video posted on Facebook on Monday drew comments from several motorists who complained about the frequency of caimans crossing the roadway and disrupting traffic in the Caroni area.
An officer at the Caroni Police Station said animal and reptile crossings were rampant in Caroni. These include cows, horses, snakes and crabs.
Senior game warden, Steve Seepersad, said while the area where the caiman was seen was a natural habitat for its kind, he believed there was a way to keep them off the roadway.
He added: “These are wildlife and that area is a part of their natural habitat but the regional corporation responsible for the area or even the Ministry of Works can do something about it.
“They can put up a wall or erect some kind of barrication to prevent them from coming out on the roadway.
“There is nothing else that can be done in respect of a natural habitat like that. If you remove them they will come back.”
He is warning enthusiastic members of the public against approaching the animals.
“It would be dangerous to try to remove it, especially the females which are very aggressive. In order for a caiman to bite someone who is standing, it has to turn sideways. Then it will turn and snap at you, grabbing your clothing, and when you try to raise your foot they will grab your foot.”
Unlike the caiman, a horse trying to cross the roadway along Caroni North Bank Road on Sunday night was not so fortunate.
It was hit by a vehicle, suffered a broken leg and had to be put down.
“Officials from the zoo were contacted and they put the animal to sleep because it was a full grown horse and to approach it would have been very risky. When an animal is in distress like that it can kick out at unsuspecting people,” Seepersad said,
He said in cases like those, where a wandering animal was hit by a vehicle the owner rarely came forward.
“They can be charged for failing to corral their livestocks and for that reason many people do not come forward to claim their animals,” Seepersad said.
The T&T Guardian was told the dead horse was butchered and shared among passersby who stopped near the site.
‘Be more vigilant’
Contacted yesterday for comment, co-ordinator of the TTPS Strategic Road Safety Project, officer Brent Batson, advised drivers to be more vigilant on the roads at night.
“Most incidents where drivers hit animals occur at night. One of the biggest challenges drivers have, while we might look out for pedestrians and cyclists, is to look out for animals when driving through rural areas. You can’t let your guard down at any time,” Batson said.
He also warned drivers against ‘overdriving’ their headlights.
“What this means, is that if you are using low beams and they are showing you 100 feet in front and you are driving at 80 miles per hour, by the time you see an animal, you might have all of 20 feet left before you hit it.
“It is advisable to use your high beams in rural areas, unless there is a vehicle coming from the other side,” he said.