Costa Rica part 3...
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Posted by EJ on April 05, 2003 at 23:16:55:
I didn’t get to see many snakes in the wild. Actually, I didn’t see any snakes in the wild except a kind of cat eyed snake that had been hit by a car on the only night it rained. Well, the advantage of having of having a friend in CR and especially a friend who is putting together a reptile park is that he had some snakes on hand that were collected locally that are found in the area but are not that common. (So I cheated a little).
These guys are supposed to be quite common.
The Annulated Boa, Corallus annulatus and this other Corallus, Corallus hortulanus
There is another boa that is a favorite of mine, Ungaliophis panamensis or the bromiliad boa. This guy was collected in a coffee field in San Jose.
These guys are not common at all.
Then there is this other ratsnake type snake, Pseustes poecilonotus, that looks like and Asian Ratsnake.
It is also called a bird eating snake. It’s an egg eater and what is odder is that the males are keeled scaled and the females are not. This one is about 7 feet long.
These next 2 guys were found on the ridge that we hiked earlier. The first, Bothriechis schlegelii
was the first hot snake found by my friends partner. It was hanging out in... what else... but a bush at about hip level. Here’s another view.
I think it’s a dynamite looking animal. What’s really weird is the variability of this species. Here is another.
and up close and personal..
It is also called an eyelash viper.
Most herpers who go to CR dream of finding one of these, Lachesis. This one is the Atlantic side variety, Lachesis stenophrys.
My friend had a local variety but the thing was about 6 feet long and did not like being handled at all. (I didn’t mind passing) Then, there is the Jumping viper, Atropoides picadoi, an uncommon local viper.
(up close and personal)
On the final viper (this is one of my favorites)is another supposedly common viper, Bothriechis lateralis.
(up close and personal)one of the prettier vipers.
I’ll mention here that by far the most common amphib was none other than...
The Marine Toad. These guys were all over the place. Our final hike was at the base of the ridge that we hiked the previous day. Once again the bugs were out in force. This dragonfly had a wingspan of about 10 inches or better
and it flew like a helicopter. This next guy caught my attention and I don’t know how. It was on the underside of a log but it was BIG.
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