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October 18, 2024 · 6:17 am

Blacktip Island Hunt Enthusiasts Launch Iguanary Club

iguanary club

Blacktip Island ‘s new iguanaers have begun ‘flying’ the Caribbean island’s native rock iguanas at downed fruit for sport. (photo courtesy of Staselnik)

A group of Blacktip Island sport hunters have organized what they term the Blacktip Island Iguanary Club, aimed at using the small Caribbean island’s native iguanas to hunt fruit as a sport, group organizers said.

“It’s like falconry, but different,” Rusty Bollard said. “Iguanas are herbivores, so we’ve trained them to retrieve fruit folks might otherwise have overlooked or been unable to get to. The process is similar to falconry—the iguana perches on the iguanaer’s leather glove until released, then it scuttles, quick-like-the-bunny, after the indicated fruit.

“We use the big rock iguanas to go after downed fruit, mostly mangoes and sea grapes, and the smaller green iguanas to get out-of-reach stuff like papayas and sweet bananas,” Bollard said. “There’s a real adrenalin adrenaline rush when the iguana takes off. It’s damned addictive.”

Club members described the iguana training process.

“Bringing fruit back without eating it isn’t natural behavior for iguanas,” Christina Mojarra said. “We start early—right after hatching, if possible—using fruit-shaped lures on a string to get the iguanas used to bringing it back to the leather glove. We gradually give them more and more leeway, and by the time they’re about six months old the behavior’s ingrained.

“We got most of these techniques from Medieval falconry codices and the Blacktip Island settlers’ chronicles,” Mojarra said. “If falconry is the sport of kings, iguanary’s the sport of pirates. It was hugely popular among old-time buccaneers. Blackbeard himself was a keen iguanaer.”

The new sport is not without its opponents

“It’s cruel to catch these endangered creatures immediately after hatching,” Blacktip Island People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals president Harry Pickett said. “And it’s beyond cruel to make teach them unnatural behavior by denying them food. These aren’t sport hunters, they’re sadists and animal abusers.

“Under the island’s endangered species ordinances, this is illegal,” Pickett said. “But, evidently, money’s crossed the right palms. Rusty and them think this’ll draw visitors to the island, but it’ll have the opposite effect once tourists see what the score is.”

Club organizers disputed those claims.

“These captive iguanas are better fed, and healthier, than any wild iguana,” Bollard said. “These are like our children—they get daily care and regular medical attention. Truth be told, iguanary’s getting a lot of attention on nearby islands and shows every sign of growing in popularity.

“That’s our long-term goal,” Bollard said. “This is the sport of the future. We’re limited in fruit varieties here, but on other islands there’s kumquats, starfruit, and even durian. We’re already working out qualifying criteria for apprentice, general and master iguanary divisions. We’ve seen the future, and the future is iguanary.”

Boobiers Return The Sport Of Kings To Blacktip Island

A red-footed booby waits for the command to hunt from a Blacktip Island Boobying Society boobier at Eagle Ray Cove resort Thursday. (photo courtesy of Charles J. Sharp)

A group of boobiers – Blacktip Island history buffs who have revived the traditional art of hunting with booby birds – will demonstrate their skills Saturday afternoon at Eagle Ray Cove resort to celebrate the nearly 400 years since the Caribbean Island’s discovery.

“Its our cultural heritage, Blacktip’s sport of kings” said Sula Beakins, president of the Blacktip Island Boobying Society. “It started as a lark by a member of the island’s Society for Creative Anachronism, and took off from there.

“The boobies can be tough to train,” Beakins said. “But they already go after fish, so it’s really just a matter of tweaking their instincts.”

Expert opinion on the sport’s historical accuracy is mixed.

“Our records indicate the first governors of Blacktip Island trained the native boobies to chase down fish, much like falcons were trained to hunt in the Old World,” island historian Smithson Altschul said.

“Of course, those records are in Middle English, so the translation may be a bit off,” Altschul added. “But, oh, the sight of a booby taking a blackfin mid-flight, it sends chills down your spine!”

Boobiers emphasize the sport’s ties to falconry.

“As with falcons, we start training our boobies when they’re young,” Beakins said. “As soon as they lose their baby down, really, and can fly reasonably well.

“It takes about a year to fully train them,” Beakins said. “We get them going after snapper at first, then work up to grouper and small mahi.”

Standard booby gear consists of bark-covered gauntlets for the boobies to perch on, as well as GPS trackers so hunters can find them.

“We all wear raincoats and goggles, too,” Beakins added. “Those birds poop up a storm, usually when you least expect it.”

The highlight of Saturday’s demonstration will be the competition between the island’s red-footed boobies and brown boobies from nearby Tiperon Island.

“It’s the great argument in the boobying community – which booby is the best hunter,” boobying aficionado Gage Hoase said. “Most serious boobiers see that as a false dichotomy, though.

“It’s a speed vs. agility thing,” Hoase said. “Like a pitting a peregrine versus a gyrfalcon. The brown boobies are better at mackerelly fish, the red-footed are best with tuna family.”

The boobying is not without critics.

“It’s inhumane, capturing wild birds, torturing them until they chase down fish, then taking the fish from them,” said Blacktip’s People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals president Harry Pickett. “And then there’s all the safety mishaps boobiers cover up. It’s a dirty, dirty sport.”

Booby enthusiasts insist they’re sensitive to those concerns.

“We’re not running around grabbing wild boobies willy-nilly,” Beakins said. “The first boobies we trained were injured chicks that wouldn’t have survived in the wild. And from that pair, we’ve started a captive breeding program. No wild boobies have ever been harmed or molested.

“Safety-wise, sure, there was an incident where a booby stooped on a small child with fish-shaped barrettes in her hair,” Beakins said. “That was unfortunate, but the booby was only following its instincts. And it let her go, eventually, which speaks to the excellence of our training. It’s a blood sport. You have to expect the occasional bloody nose.”