One of the Center's two (unofficial) mascots, Claus, is shown here eyeballing some conch meat that Joe Chojnacki is pounding in preparation for a tasty meal.

South Caicos is an island with many stray cats. Occasionally, one of them finds its way into the hearts and food bowls of the staff and students at the Center. The cats become objects of affection to the students whose homes, families and pets are so far away.

Images courtesy of Drew Van Voorhees, Senior Intern at the School for Field Studies, South Caicos Island.

Claus wandered into the Center in 1993 as a kitten during Hurricane Claus, and he's been a permanent fixture at SFS ever since.

Cassie Cummings and Jamie Reiner are admiring the newest member of the SFS family, Belle. Belle was so small when she was found that she had to be fed with an eye dropper!

Sylvia Gill is one of Belle's many admirers. With all of this attention being spent on Belle, could Claus be getting jealous?

Belle is so small, that she is frequently hard to find. Here she is tucked away in a hole in the SFS Center stone wall. A nice way to stay cool on a hot day!