Day 1 April 30th 2016
As always our first day is a travel days. I arrived from Panama a little after noon and after going though Immigrations and Customs I got a taxi. We drove to the Hotel Areopuerto about a 10 minute drive from the airport. Two of our herpers Rick and Kris arrived in CR two days earlier. They wanted to visit some of the Serpentarium in or around San Jose. But they did not make it! I introduce myself and we sat down to get accounted, which takes about 10 minutes when you get some herpers together. This is the first trip for Rich and Kris with Costa Rica Herping Adventures. A while later Bryan and Elizabeth arrived this is Bryan second trip with CRHA and Eliz’s first. Within a couple hours Greyson jointed our group, this is his first trip with CRHA. A little after dark Mark and Mike arrived both first trip with us, they were not traveling together but they both ended up on the same plane. That takes care of today arrivals. I have two more arrivals meeting us at the Arenal Lodge tomorrow.
Day 2 May 1st 2016
Things went well after breakfast the cars were delivered on time, we had our bags in the lobby. We check out the cars and signed the paperwork, loading up which was a challenging. I was driving the lead car and Bryan was driving the other we both had our handlight on to make easier to keep each other in sight. After we made it through San Ramon we were in the mountains an hour or so later a few car there between us. A while later I notice I had not seen highlights in a while. I pulled over and waited for them to show up, and they didn’t, I had Kris or Greyson call the other car. That didn’t work, but a text finally did. They had pulled over because the brakes were smoking. They were in a car with front wheel drive and had extra weight in the car that took its toll on the brakes. They waited for about 15 minutes then followed the signs the rest of the way to La Fortuna. Bryan knew his way from the last trip. Pete was waiting for us as we drove up to the Lodge. He had come down to CR a few day early as usual to do a little herping in different a area. This is Pete’s 14 trip with CRHA. After everyone arrived, we had lunch. I called the car rental company about the brakes and the window that would not go up. The car with the brakes was simple just put the car into a lower gear going down hill and use less brakes; it worked fine on the way back. They would send a mechanic out Monday. After lunch I took everyone to the main trail that was primary and secondary jungle. It is a nice 1 ½ hour walk. During the noon hours the snakes are hard to find, but at the end of the trial I caught an Elegant Litter Snake. Our first snake of the trip.
After dinner our first night in the field was right around the corner and everyone was hot to go. We all had our gear, be it headlight or flashlight, backpacks, water and cameras. This trip we had several Herper’s with high-tech cameras. No one goes into the field these days without a camera, and it’s a good thing because sometimes the shot of a lifetime comes at you fast and if you blink twice it’s gone.
Our first snake of the night was a Blunthead Tree Snake making his way on a barbed wire fence. Almost all of our trips in this area we have found a snake of some type on a barbed wire fence. If you are in the Tropics looking for snakes, don’t forget the barbed wire fences. The next snake was an Eyelash Viper and the next another Eyelash Viper, followed by a Cateye. We had been working a citrus grove and found these 4 snakes. We moved behind the grove to a large tree where we had found 4 snakes in the same tree last year. This year that tree had vacancy signs out; we’ll check it out the next trip. We walked across fields to the road leading back to the Lodge. We didn’t find anything in the fields, but did find snakes on the way back to the Lodge: 1 Cloudy Snail-eater, 1 Red Coffee Snake, 4 more Cateye Snakes, and 2 Fer-de-Lances, finishing the day with 13 Snakes. We are off to a decent start!
Day 3 May 2nd 2016
The Sun gets up early here in Costa Rica and I’m up with it looking for my first cup of coffee. I wasn’t the first one to the restaurant; there was Pete and Jason already working on their breakfast. Jason got in late last night. It was good to see him again; this is his third trip with CRHA. I commented on Jason weight-loss; he really looked great from the last time I saw him 2 years ago. He said he had been running a couple of miles every day. Keep up the good work, Jason. Soon some of our other Herpers joined us at the table. We reviewed yesterday’s herping and set out plans for today. This morning’s plan would be hunting the area behind the Lodge down to the old house and the rancho. Last we found a nice 4 foot Boa and a Eyelash Viper plus a few lizards on this hike.
I had to stay behind because the rental company was sending a mechanic at 10:30am and I had to be there to know what was going on with the cars. He finally showed up and looked like he knew what he was doing. He checked the brakes on one car which seemed to be OK. The car with the homemade window was next. I watched him pull the cover off the door where the switches are and test for current. The window motor was shot, he went to his truck and brought back a new one; a few minutes later the window was working just fine. With that problem behind me, I went into the woods to see what I could see, no luck this time. The guys came in from their hike with no better luck than I had. Lunch and herp talk was next. Everyone did whatever they wanted to for now; we would eat dinner around 5:30 and be on the trails a little after 6pm. After dinner we split into 2 teams – the 1st team started walk down the hill from the top, and the 2nd team drove to the midway point to the bottom of the road and started walking to the bottom of the road from the middle. When the first team reaches the car, they drive to the bottom to pick up the second team. This way we have the road covered all the time in two different areas from two different positions, and we also have better odds of finding the snakes crossing the road. We found 5 Eyelash Viper, 1 Imantodes, a bunch of Cat-eye Snakes, 4 Cloudy Sibons, 1 Red Coffee Snake and 1 Hognose Pitviper.
It was a good night!!
Day 4 ~~~ Tuesday: May 3rd 2016
Later Breakfast went as usual with a lot of the guys bringing their cameras and showing the shots they got last night. We drew a crowd of tourists; they just love looking at pictures of snake and not having to get close. After the last cup of coffee, almost everyone want to drive to La Fortuna for a little shopping for one more T shirt or something else to remember the trip by. A few of us when into field to see if we might get lucky. Finding snakes in the daytime is anybody guest but if we work hard enough we do find some snakes during the day, but they are hard to come by. Pretty soon the rain came in and chased us back to the Lodge. The rain was a good one which should help us tonight. I had to pick up Miguel tonight but he called me and said he was at the gate house. I said I would be down there in 15 minutes. When I arrived at the bottom Miguel and Nelson who opens the gate house for cars were trying to get a snake from a thin tree; the snake was 15 to 20 feet above them. I parked and tried to help we were able to bend the tree enough to reach the snake. I knew the snake was in the Sibon family, but I was not sure of the subspecies. I knew it was a new species for CRHA; I love to add new species to our Trips List. Costa Rica has 138 species of Snakes; before Trip 23 we had found 52 of them and now we are moving up. Well, Miguel got us kick started with 2 snakes – the other was a False Fer-de-Lance. We drove to the top for something to eat with our other Herpers. Since we already found 2 snakes at the bottom of the road, we thought that we might give it a try. We had 8 people going out tonight, so the plan was all of us ride to the bottom. Four would drive to the halfway mark and hunt to the top. The bottom four would walk to the car and drive to the top. At the bottom it was Miguel, Kris and myself. We started where we found the Sibon, Kris called out “snake” and pointed to the exact place we got the first Sibon longifrenis
was found. We got the second one also. At breakfast more photos were shown around because dividing into two groups we don’t see what the other guys found and photoed from the other group. This fact of two snakes of the same species in the same tree at the same place made me think they were there for breeding. We walked for about 10 minutes before finding an Eyelash Viper with unusual marking. Miguel wanted to keep this guy for further studying and photos. We were able to find this and that along the way to the top. This was the first time on any trips that we walked from the bottom to the top. What a lot of incline, but at a hunting pase it’s not bad. I did it and will probably do it again! A Hognose Pitviper, a Fer-de-lance in a small tree and 6 Eyelash Vipers were found on this hike up the road. Another good night with only a few drop of rain..
Day 5 ~~~ Wednesday: May 4th 2016
At breakfast more photos were shown around because dividing into two groups we see theirs and they don’t see ours. So, this makes show and tell necessary and it’s fun to do. But about half our group have taken a side tour to the River Frio about a 3 hour drive 3 hour boat ride and 3 hours back. The highlight of what they saw is: Green Iguanas, Caimans and a vast amount of Birds, this is the third time people from our group have done this tour. Everyone seems to enjoy it. After dinner we all headed to a field where horses are pastured and there was a deer in with the horses. The deer didn’t seem to be bothered by us but a few minutes he left. This time I have seen more deer than ever before. A couple of years ago Costa Rica became the first Country in the World to pass a law forbidding any type of hunting. Looks like the deer and other are making a strong come back. We usually do pretty good in this field. We worked the field for a couple hours and did good, then moved to another area behind the field and added a few more snakes. The snakes we found were Eyelash Vipers, Fer-de-lance, Cateye Snakes, Sibon nebulatus, a Hognose Pitviper and Bird Snakes. The Bird Snakes came early in the AM. While getting ready to go to Rio Frio, Jason was walking to the office and came by a big tree in front of the Lodge office. Crawling down the tree was a six foot Bird Snake which he grabbed. No one was around so he took it to his room and bagged it for pictures in the afternoon. He was going to the office for change, and there in the same place was another five foot Bird Snake. The third time he finally got his change. I didn’t hear this story until after lunch! It was a good day 18 snakes in all.
Day 6 ~~~ Thursday: May 5th 2016
We have today and tomorrow to beat Trip 22’s record-setting total 101 Snakes. We’ve been cruising up until now, but time is slipping away. I think it will be close, win or lose. Right now I think we can’t slow down or we will lose. So, I’m encouraging everyone to put forth their best effort. Keep moving and looking, stay outside not in your room or too much time in the restaurant. Most every day I spend an hour or two walking by myself looking not far from the Lodge in case I have a problem. Today I remembered on the first trip to this Lodge,and the group was on the main jungle trip. We came to the little bridge over the creek and Miguez started hunting the edges of the water and turning over rocks. I thought that was a waste of time, but a few minutes later he came up with 3 Gray Earth Snakes. They are black with random red blotches – real beauties about 20 inches long. So, I said to myself I’m going there and give it a try. I had a blister on my ankle bone and had not been wearing my rubber boots since then. So, I packed my boots in my backpack got a towel to dry with after being in the water. I put on my boots without pain, I guess the 3 band-aids helped. I worked the area for an hour with no luck. Later I ask Miguel how and where he found those guys? He said that he found them under rocks that are lying on the sandy bottom. I’m going to try it again on my next trip. After I got back from my little hunt in the creek, we got the guys together for a photoshoot of snakes that had been found and brought in. Sometime the snake will stay still; other times they fly; but sooner or later we get our shot. Finally we bagged up the last snake. We have GPS reading on each snake so that we can return them to the spot of capture. We only move 10 to 15% of the snakes for photos. Next stop dinner then back on the hunt. We all met at the end room to start tonight’s hunt. As we were waiting for the speed-impaired, someone stepped about 10 feet into the jungle and shined his light into the trees. He saw a small mammal staring at him; he raised his camera and start shooting shots of the animal. I looked and told the group it was a Woolly Opossum.
I came across this species on first trip to Arenal it was an older animal and have the color this young fellow has. We worked a new field we hadn’t worked this week. I was working the edge where the Jungle starts. No luck so far then I hear something coming fast to the Jungle edge. This time it was 2 opossums one chasing the other, my first impression was it was a mother g her offspring? There was a ledge about 3 feet from the Jungle down to the field. The young one was follow by the mother, the young one jumped down the ledge and into a hole under a downed tree. The mother stopped and did not follow the young over the ledge she looked at me I’m 15 feet from her and she turned and ran away like I was going to eat her. I moved to hole the young when into. I couldn’t see it inside then I hear a noise and it the mother run flat out towards me stopping now only 5 feet from me. She look at me again and turn and runs away. I moved on wondering what just happened? I have no idea. This species was much smaller than the Woolly Opossum. Costa Rica has seven species of opossum. 30 to 40 years ago I stopped to check under a bridge for snakes. When the water had been high, debris had gotten caught up under the bridge.I had some grabbers and I started pulling the dead plants and other debris from the places it was stuck. The next thing I saw was a very small opossum in the debris. I grabbed it with the grabbers. She had 4 or 5 babies hanging on her back. I grabbed her behind the head with my hand and put the debris back under bridge. I put her and the babies back there they started. I check for more babies but there were no more, snakes either. The mommy was about 2 inches longer than the white rat you might be feeding your Boa. I think that’s a little too much about my opossum experiences. After dinner we packed ourselves into the cars for a ride to Red Frog Mountain. That’s my name for the place we headed to because last year we found 2 or 3 Strawberry Dart Frogs (Oophaga pumilio). Eliz had wanted to see and photograph one from the beginning of the trip. I told we had a place that we may find them. We were there 10 minutes when Greyson yelled out Coral Snake;
he was partly right as it turned out to be a False Coral Snake, Scaphiodontophis annulatus. This was another first for CRHA, the second of this Trip. While we walked around finding snakes we came to a stable, I remenbered this from last year. Last year there was a horse here. Well the horse was still there… sort of… but all that was left of him was bones and a hide that had been cured by the sun into a heavy leather. It was not a pleasent sight but it was nature, plain and simple. After a few more snakes on our way back, we came to the stable again; it was kind of marker for us. Well, now it been at least an hour since we were last here. We may as well hunt it again; a lot can change in an hour in the jungle, and boy did it! The horse hide was no longer here, only the dried bone. I called attention to the other guys and asked if anyone had moved the hide? No one did! I said it’s got to be around unless a Puma or a Jaguar hauled it off. I probably should have left the last part off because Eliz got real scared. About that time it occurred to me that a big powerful cat had just been there. I looked for tracts but the ground showed nothing. One of the guys found the hide about 50 or 60 feet away. The hide had been chewed into and bone had been chewed and you could see the gristle still had some liquid in it. We tried again to find tracks but found none. I said let move on and stay together. We finally got to the cars with everyone in one piece. We did well at this spot last trip and did even better this time – 8 Eyelash Vipers here and a total of 24 snakes for Day 6.
Group Photo Trip 23
Greyson, Pete, Kris,Bryan Jason, Eliz, Rich,Mark, Mike, Jim
Day 7 ~~~ Friday: May 6th 2016
This is it our last day in the field and our last chance to beat Trip 22 record of 101 snakes. I think we are in a good position to beat last year’s record. Time will tell. One possible problem is the fact that a cloud has been sitting on us all day. We could see maybe 200 or 300 feet and that it. Around 5pm there was a small opening in the clouds and I saw some sun light for 5 minutes; then it closed. Then within an hour the cloud lifted just the as the night set in. After dinner the Father of an European family who had been staying at the Lodge for a few days reported that he had seen a big snake on their way to the restaurant. We knew the snake since we had seen him the first and again on our third night. He was staying close to the Lodge, and we figured he should be removed for the safety of the snake and the Lodge guests. Bryan had a bagger and grabbers, so he was our man. One of our guys got too close to the snake while we were setting up. The snake could have bolted into the woods, losing our opportunity to bag him in a safe manner. Or if the snake had struck hard, propelling his body 7 or 8 inches, it could have been the difference between an exciting catch and a life-threatening situation. I was not pleased, and a short time later he packed it in for the night. Bryan made the catch. it was not easy, smooth or pretty, but we had a 5 foot plus Fer-de-lance in the bag.
Later that evening, on our trip to take Miguel home, we would stop the car and release the snake back into the jungle far away from the lodge. After the Fer-de-lance capture, we set out at the same place as our first hike Monday morning. I found an Eyelash Viper and and we kept moving a little here and there. We got to the old house where Bryan had been in the afternoon and found a small lizard that was not doing well. He figured the lizard might have been envenomated, so he placed the lizard in a corner and put some leaves over him, knowing we be back tonight. Sure enough there was an Eyelash Viper just above the lizard, ready for dinner. We moved to the Rancho and hunted there. We came upon Greyson and Kris who had lead the way down the hill. They had caught a snake and did not know the ID. Kris said he had been bitten 5 times. I took a look at it and said it was a baby Neo-Tropic Racer, and these young ones always bite to defend themselves. The Babies are like in the States with blotches on the back and sides. They are one of the few snakes we been finding that are not rear-fanged. We were working the area good and finding more snakes. I noticed Miguel was checking something hard and moving around checking from another angle. I asked him what he had found? He pointed to a Lizard. I saw it and thought it was a small green iguana, but something is wrong. I looked for a way to catch this guys and see what we had. Problem was we were standing on the edge of a 5 or 6 foot drop. I tried to reach the tree the lizard was in but I couldn’t reach it. I asked Miguel to hold my left hand and I stretched over the drop, trying to hook the tree and pull it towards me.
I told Miguel let lean more, a little more. Finally I had the tree and now I could stand straight. I pulled the tree over and grabbed the lizard with my hand. Once I cleared the leaves away and could see the lizard’s tail I knew it was a Canopy Lizard (Polychrus gutturosus). These guys can move their eyes independently, like a true Chameleon, and they have a very long tail. I’ve only seen this lizard in books, and I always wanted to find one in the Jungle. Also this is a new find for CRHA, the third of this Trip. We walked to a clearing to take some photos. We set her in a small tree and the cameras started flashing. While waiting for my turn up close, I spotted another one, a smaller male. Two is good! Now we have an uphill climb to the lodge, finding 2 or 3 Eyelash Vipers on the way back. It was a good and exciting night.
Day 8 ~~~ Saturday: May 7th 2016
Travel Day, After breakfast we got together for a last photo shoot of a Jumping Viper which Miguel brought from his home because we didn’t find any on the trip. I’m sure the guys appreciated it, to be able to add this species to their photos of the trip. We said our goodbyes to Bryan and Eliz because they were being picked for a ride to Liberia where a rental car would be waiting for them to start their second week of herping. Pete and Jason are also to do an extra week herping: we wished all of them good luck and safe travels. The rest of us are heading back to the Hotel Areopuerto to stay over tonight and travel home tomorrow.
It’s another great trip of memories that will last a lifetime!!
Until the next time!!
Jim ~~~
April 30 to May 7, 2016 |
||||||
Species |
Common Name |
Live |
DOR |
TOT |
AL |
|
Bothriechis schlegelli |
Eyelash Viper |
34 |
0 |
34 |
||
Bothrops asper |
Fer-de-Lance |
5 |
0 |
5 |
||
Piocercus euryzonus |
Halloween Sn. |
1 |
0 |
1 |
||
Rhadinaea decorata |
Elegant Litter Sn. |
1 |
0 |
1 |
||
Mastigodryas melanolomus |
Salmon Bellied Racer |
1 |
0 |
1 |
||
Imantodoes canahoa |
Blunthead Tree Sn. |
3 |
0 |
3 |
||
Leptodeira septentrionalis |
Northern Cayeye Sn. |
15 |
0 |
15 |
||
Sibon nebulatus |
Cloudy Snail-eater |
26 |
0 |
26 |
||
Sibon longifrenis |
Lichen-colored Snail-eater |
2 |
0 |
2 |
||
Ninia sebae |
Red Coffee Sn. |
1 |
0 |
1 |
||
Ninia psephota |
Banded Coffee Sn. |
7 |
0 |
7 |
||
Porthidium nasutum |
Rainforest Hognose |
Pitviper |
5 |
0 |
5 |
|
Scaphiodontophis annulatus |
False Coral Snake |
1 |
0 |
1 |
||
Pseustes poecilonotus |
Bird Snake |
2 |
0 |
2 |
||
Trip 23 TOTAL |
104 |
Testimonials
Hello Jim:
I have made several exploratory trips with you and many organizes trips, each trip has produced new herps, experiences, surprises, fun and friends!
I am looking forward to more great experiences , should have new feet for next year, and am already looking forward to Costa Rica and Friends.
Not only do we see many herps, but always new birds and mammals , learn more about the ecosystem habits and habitats of the flora and fauna , but meet many nice Costa Rican people.
Trip 24 will not be a disappointment…..Pete Mooney
Here’s a testimonial:
This was my second trip with Jim and it was great as usual. I very much appreciate skipping the whole tourist thing and head straight into habitat. It’s not an eco-tour at all, just solid field herping like I’d want to do anywhere. I’ll definitely be back.
Bryan D. Hughes