From bats to crocodiles: the exotic animals that have been caught in the CDMX Metro

The capital of Mexico is considered one of the largest cities in the world, in which thousands and thousands of people move daily in a constant flow through the Chilango transport par excellence: the Metro. This dynamic of euphoric transit, almost unstoppable, has been marked on more than one occasion by events that have brought a smile to more than one person under the slogan “Magic Mexico”.

Some of them have been sightings of various species of animals considered as exotic in the also exotically named “orange worm”.

Just this Monday, April 4, the Metro Civil Protection personnel carried out the rescue of a bat that had been installed on the fan of a train belonging to Line 8, which runs from Garibaldi station to Constitución in 1917. The little animal caused delays of almost an hour, so users, not knowing the reason for the delay, began to express their discomfort via social networks.

A little later, on its official Twitter account, the Mexico City Metro confirmed that it was a copy of a bat, which had already been handed over to the animal surveillance brigade of the Ministry of Citizen Security (SSC).

As has been said, this is not the first time that something similar has happened.

In 2017, the CDMX Metro was the scene of one of the most impressive coincidences in its history: an eagle landed on a Nopalera station sign on Line 12. The bird stayed for an hour in the place and was recorded and photographed by the users who were walking in amazement.

Some commented that “the eagle landed on the nopalera”, referring to the Mexican National Coat of Arms, which is inspired by the legend of the founding of Mexico-Tenochtitlan, which says that the god Huitzilopochtli instructed the Aztecs to establish their city where they would find an eagle perched on a prickly pear.

The National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH) “confirmed” the data in a fun way on social networks.

Later, it was confirmed that the specimen was not really a kind of eagle, but that it was a Hawk of Harris or Parabuteo unicinctus, confirmed the professor of biology at UNAM, Elisa Ramírez Lomelí.

In February 2020, the networks exploded when passers-by caught a duck walking like another Metro user, using tennis on his legs to suit him. This happened at the facilities of Line 3.

According to Adriana Cristina, the Twitter user who shared the photo of the event, the family made up of the mother and two minors boarded with the bird at Balderas station and got off at Zapata. It didn't take long for the event to go viral.

After the viralization of the images, it was revealed that the specimen was female, it was called 'Bruna' and that the youngest had two months with it, at which time they had become inseparable, according to the user. The minor and his pet are still seen at some stations on Lines 3 and 12, as well as on streets in the Historic Center.

A Metro user captured, in September 2020, the exact moment when a spider that looked “giant” came down from the ceiling through its web. According to Twitter users @alertasurbanas and @73_Rulo, the video was captured at the 1917 Constitución station, south terminal, also on Metro Line 8.

Faced with the curiosity and fear of some Internet users who occupy this transport daily, a specialist identified as on Twitter @Arachno_Cosas, explained that the video showed a “spider of the Araneidae family”, so its size was around 5 centimeters and that it looked big was perhaps just a matter of perspective. In addition, he assured that it was not dangerous for humans.

Civil Protection personnel searched for the specimen, however, they found no trace of it.

But unfortunately, not all of these rare species in the city context have been sighted accidentally or “chusca”. In October 2020, agents of the capital's SSC intercepted and detained two young people carrying crocodiles at the La Raza Metro station.

According to the City authorities' report, officers were conducting surveillance work at the station, when they noticed that two men were traveling with small crocodiles on the Metro. These were two young people aged 18 and 19.

The SSC later explained in a statement. The animals were “transferred to the appropriate environmental authorities,” they said.

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