Fer-de-Lance
Meet my new friend. I call him ‘fluffy’. He likes to hang out on the same trail that our students used to get to their study plots in Rara Avis Rainforest Preserve. I did not like that. I tried to reason with him. He did not like that. Then I relocated him. He did not like that either – as you can tell he is waiting for my next move… Even though he’s a grumpy Fer-de-Lance, we’re still friends… Twan Leenders RTPI President
Read MoreTantilla supracincta
It took more than 20 years, but I finally got to see a living Tantilla supracincta! For some reason I would come across these only after they got run over in traffic, or macheted to pieces because someone thought it was a venomous coral snake. This is a minuscule snake – this one measured less than nine inches – and even though it has some venom to subdue its (probably far more venomous) centipede prey, it is perfectly harmless to humans. Happy the curse has been lifted! Twan Leenders RTPI President
Read MoreSnake Caterpillar?
While transferring photographs from my recent Panama trip onto my computer, another quick pick jumped out at me. This large caterpillar was found by Dave Huth on our first night in Cocobolo Nature Reserve and the longer I watched it, the more its resemblance to a snake blew me away. The indication of scales in just the right places, spots suggesting nostrils, even the white ‘catchlight’ in its fake eyes…and it moves in just the right ways too! I know my Central American snakes pretty well, but even a cursory glance at this caterpillar tripped all sorts of alarm bells in my...
Read MoreCentral American Rattlesnake (Crotalus simus)
RTPI Affiliate Sean Graesser says that he had wanted to see a Central American Rattlesnake (Crotalus simus) since he started getting interested in herpetology. Fortunately for him he knew they were in the area of Costa Rica’s Nicoya Peninsula where he has worked for five avian wintering seasons. After all those thousands of hours spent in the field keeping an eye out for the species, and eventually wondering if they were a mythical and magical creature that once existed in the area, they finally found one this week! Sean says it was a very poetic finding as it came on their very last...
Read MoreBrown Vine Snake (Oxybelis aeneus)
Here’s something to wake you up on a cold Monday morning! A Brown Vine Snake (Oxybelis aeneus) giving its threat posture to the photographer, RTPI Affiliate Sean Graesser.
Read More
