6/26/2013

I can break down my day for you pretty easily.

It was humid as all hell and I sweat profusely...

In all seriousness, it was pretty ridiculous today. We had a huge storm yesterday, and skies were blue with a lot of sun today. Soaked ground + high heat = crazy humid!

I tried my best to catch lizards today, I need 60 total, and I have about 15.

They're much harder to catch than the frogs.

This may take some time.

Let's be real, if I were you the only reason I'd be reading this is for the animal pictures.

So...

The real stuff comes out at night, which is quickly turning into my favorite time in the jungle...


 I wish I had a better picture. I guess this is a pretty accurate representation of how far you can see in the swamp though. Since the storm, the water is around waste deep in the middle. It can be pretty spooky when you feel something on your leg and there's no way of finding out what it is.

 Lepidophyma reticulatum (Tropical Night Lizard) These ladies bite. And hard. The reason I knew it was a female is they all are. It's a species of lizards that are parthenogenic, meaning there are only females (esp. at La Selva) and they lay eggs that are mini clones of themselves.

Another giant black wood turtle. This one was even bigger than last nights. We measured its shell because I was sure it was a record holder...The biggest caught at La Selva was almost twice as large though...holy cow! (btw, how miserable do I look in this photo?)

Let's be honest, I have no idea the names of most of these frogs, I have to look them up. I have no idea what these are and I can't find a picture to match them. They're cute, I like them, enjoy.

Ditto previous comment.

Finally.

I dreamed this day would come.

One of the snakes I've been waiting to see this entire trip.

A fierce predator that strikes fear into even the most hardened jungle enthusiast.

This snake has a world famous reputation for being one of the baddest mo-fo's in the jungle

 It's been on my bucket list for a long time. It's Spanish name is Terciopelo, which I think means velvet skin. This first picture is a good example of a caudal lure, which is the name for that splotch of coloration on the end of the tail. This yellow tip is waved around to lure in prey like lizards, birds or mammals.

Bothrops asper (Fer-de-Lance) I was so excited to see one of these. I can't believe it's taken so long. I have nothing but respect for these beautiful creatures. This is one of the deadliest and most aggressive snakes in Costa Rica. They get a bad reputation though, because they're generally only aggressive when molested. I'm almost speechless...almost. Simply amazing! They get a hell-of-a-lot bigger too. I can't wait to see more...

Carollia sp.(Leaf-nosed Bat) On our way back from the swamp I dropped in on the bat crew and watched as they cleared the mist-nests. I'm not a big mammal guy, but damn these things are cute. They even caught a vampire bat. Something was terribly wrong with it though, it didn't even come close to resembling Edward. Clearly not up on its own culture. Pull it together bat.

This face will warm the coldest of hearts...'Oh, well hello there little fella.'

Ninia sebae (Red Coffee Snake) Just before bed I was happy to stumble across this guy. Not the best picture, but I wasn't sure if it was venomous or not (I found out later they're not)

I'm starting to hit my energy wall, I think tomorrow I'll start looking at some of my data and maybe take it easy for a while. I deserve a small break.