Costa Rica 2006

Costa Rica

March 2006

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Part III - La Selva

After leaving Monteverde Chris, Lisa and I stopped by the Airport in San Jose to pick up my girlfriend, Sarah, did some sketchy wheeling and dealing to get a rental car, and headed back into the jungle for the La Selva region.

The drive was a pleasant one with lots of beautiful scenery and only a few near-wrecks on windy mountain roads.

photo by Chris Winne

We arrived at our destination for the first night, a lodge near La Selva. We wasted no time to get herping...

We were amazed to find these stunning frogs everywhere

Green and Black Dart Frog (Dendrobates auratus) -photo by Chris Winne

This male was carrying a tadpole on his back - photo by Chris Winne

We found several of these cool toads, Bufo haematicus - photo by Chris Winne

Walking a trail along the river I spotted this furball in a vine tangle. I had been looking for one of these ever since first coming to Costa Rica and was ecstatic.

Silky Tree Anteater - photo by Chris Winne

- photo by Chris Winne

We spent that evening searching vegetation around the lodge for arboreal snakes... and were well-rewarded

Bicolored Snail Sucker (Dipsis bicolor) - photo by Chris Winne

Clouded Snail Sucker (Sibon nebulatus) - photo by Chris Winne

The next morning we left the lodge and headed to La Selva Biological Station

The trail network was impressive and the rainforest was spectacular

- photo by Chris Winne

flipping trailside logs yielded this Yellow-Spotted Night Lizard (Lepidophyma flavimaculatum)

I spotted this beauty stretched along a trailside branch. I had caught juveniles of this species before but never an adult. What a fantastic snake!

Bird Snake (Pseustes poecilonotus)

A little further down the trail I saw a snake streak into thick vegetation and Chris and I spent the next 10 minutes chasing a lightning-fast speckled racer (Drymobius margaritiferus) around in circles. Sadly, we never got our hands on the snake.

We were standing in the trail and discussing how impressed we were at the diurnal snake abundance at La Selva. As if on cue, a cry of "SNAKE" came from the girls just up the trail. We sprinted up to see a large green snake stretched across the trail!

Green Parrot Snake (Leptophis ahaetulla)

- photo by Chris Winne

We made our way down to the river for a little fun and relaxation.

It was fun while it lasted... oh well

We spent two nights at La Selva and found night searching to be very productive.

By the most common snakes seen were Blunt-Headed Tree Snakes (Imantodes cenchoa)

Chris spotted this Yellow Blunt-Headed Tree Snakes (Imantodes inornatus)

We were still too early in the season for frog breeding so we were all excited turn up a Red-Eyed Treefrog (Agalychnis callidryas) - photo by Chris Winne

As always, unusual insects were prevalent

About half way into our first night hike, I finally saw the copperhead-like pattern I had been looking for materialize out of the rainforest leaf litter - Fer-de-Lance!

This individual, at nearly 5 feet, was one of the most impressive snakes I have ever encountered. Usually I am confident approaching, photographing, and handing venomous snakes, but this animal made me think twice. Its jumpy behavior hinted that it could bolt in any direction at any moment and wouldn't hesitate to strike. We decided to sacrifice the close-up photos and let the snake go on its way. Still, I was elated. Despite the reported abundance of this species in Costa Rica I had visited the country three times without seeing a live one. Luckily I got to see two in two nights at La Selva on this trip.

Fer-de-Lance (Bothrops asper)

Lisa impressed us all by spotting this little guy climbing high on a large tree trunk.

Ringed Snail Sucker - (Sibon annulatus)

At the very end of our last night in La Selva I spotted a slender snake resting high in a small tree. I assumed it was another Imantodes and was thus pleasantly surprised when a sharp shake of the tree dislodged my third species of parrot snake for the trip.

Striped Parrot Snake (Leptophis nebulosus)

Our time at La Selva was over far too quickly. What a great visit, though. In two days and three nights we had tallied 15 snakes of 10 species, not to mention lots of other great herps, birds, and mammals. Although we were all sad to go, I couldn't wait for our next destination, the Guanacaste region...