St. Croix Wildlife: The Animals That Call the Island Home
Many newcomers are drawn to St. Croix for its rugged beauty, lack of human overcrowding, and pleasant warm weather. So it should come as no surprise that those same conditions make the island a desirable habitat for all manner of fauna, a lot of which you won’t see stateside. Interestingly, many animals on St. Croix are not indigenous but are invasive species, brought here by people — either intentionally as pest control, as pets, or for sport, or unintentionally as stowaways on ships.
Below, read more about the most common critters you may encounter around island — the good, the bad, and the ugly (sorry, iguana).
Reptiles and Amphibians
Reptiles in St. Croix are possibly the most ubiquitous animals, or at least the ones that best fit the Venn diagram of “easiest to spot” and “not common stateside.” Skinny green anoles, reminiscent of pet chameleons, are the little lizards that somehow always seem to get into the house. Longer and pudgier, brown geckos are nocturnal, preferring to hide in dark areas during the day. And, of course, there are those prehistoric-looking green iguanas, whose favorite daytime hangout might be your swimming pool. Fun fact: Only one of these, the anole, is indigenous to the island.
Green sea turtles, hawksbills, and leatherbacks make the beaches their nesting grounds, while red-legged land tortoises, which began their St. Croix habitation as pets, hole up in the scrub along the side of the road. Lastly for reptiles, while there are basically no indigenous snakes on the island (more on that later), St. Croix has seen an uptick of wild red-tailed boa constrictors, particularly out west, as a result of escaped or released pets.
On the amphibian side of things, coquis and tree frogs, from Puerto Rico and Cuba, respectively, serenade the night with their distinctive calls. Invasive brown, bumpy cane toads — first introduced as pest control in sugar cane fields and growing to the size of a salad plate — aren’t just ugly; they’re a potentially deadly threat to pets who attempt to catch them by emitting a toxin through their skin.
Insects
It’s the tropics; there are gonna be bugs. (This is where the faint of heart may want to skip ahead.) Most are simply crawlies like roaches and sugar ants and winged critters like flies that you just don’t want in your house for hygiene reasons, but termites or other wood-boring insects can create structural problems, which is why we often recommend pest inspections to real estate buyers.
Several insects on St. Croix also pose health threats to humans. Mosquitoes leave behind itchy welts and can carry several unpleasant tropical illnesses, such as dengue fever, zika, and chikungunya. Mampees a.k.a. no-see-ums or sandflies, swarm in the sunset hour and cause fierce if temporary itching. When their nests are disturbed, fire ants bite, resulting in angry, itchy bumps, typically on the feet. Jack spaniard wasps are particularly aggressive when agitated with a nasty sting. Finally, spindly centipedes have a venomous bite that’s quite painful and may even require medical attention. (Not to be confused with harmless gungalos, those smooth, shiny black millipedes that curl up when scared.) Hint: Bug spray and Benadryl are smart travel buddies, and it’s always wise to watch where you step.
Crustaceans
Still with us? Good — the rest of these are easier to handle. Many people associate crustaceans with the sea, but St. Croix has a number of land-dwelling crabs as well. Hermit crabs, which wear the discarded shells of other sea creatures as their own portable homes, are easy to find along popular hiking trails from east to west. Ghost crabs, looking like something AI invented with their cartoon-like eyes and nearly translucent bodies, hang out at the beaches where they can access the water for breeding. Land crabs skitter in and out of their self-made tunnels most actively at dawn and dusk and have a thriving community in the wooded area at the Buccaneer’s golf course.
Birds
Plenty of feathered friends live on or visit St. Croix. (Sound familiar?) Brown-colored doves, our version of pigeons, are quite common, as are hummingbirds, which pollinate many tropical flowers. Regal white egrets flock whenever landscapers are out, exposing the birds’ fave insect snacks. This is the same reason egrets hang out around livestock like horses, cows, and goats, a.k.a., nature’s lawnmowers.
And then, of course, in the “human-introduced” category, we have plenty of free-range chickens pretty much everywhere around island, and you’ll come across peacocks out west at Cane Bay and east around Ziggy’s.
Land Mammals
The whitetail deer you’ll see around St. Croix tend to grow a bit smaller than those stateside. They didn’t originate here either, having been brought in by Danish hunters in the late 1700s for sport. Nowadays, their only “predator” is car traffic, so be sure to eye the roadsides with caution when driving (in addition to staying left!).
Also along the roads, you’ll see mongoose, which look like short-haired squirrels. They were brought to the island in an attempt to control the rat population, which was also introduced by humans, arriving as stowaways on ships; too bad mongoose are diurnal, or awake during the day, and rats are nocturnal, so thus they rarely share mealtimes. Mongoose ate the native ground lizard to extinction on the big island (though they still exist on Green Cay) and got all the indigenous snakes, too.
Stray cats and dogs, a product of released pets or owned ones permitted to reproduce, are a real problem here, as on many tropical islands. Several charities rescue and/or trap, neuter, and release them in an attempt to control the population. As a visitor, you can help by reaching out to Ruff Start STX, R.E.A.L Cruzan Cats, Cruzan Satos Rescue, or the St. Croix Animal Welfare Center to offer to transport a cabin-sized puppy or cat to a partner shelter in your home state — or by adopting your own furry friend to take home! Residents can get involved in rescue efforts by volunteering or fostering.
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