The Flickr Costaricasnake Image Generatr

Annulated Tree Boa
Boa arbolicola anillada
(Corallus annulatus )

Giant Parrot Snake - (Leptophis ahaetulla) is a diurnal snake with a broad distribution in Central America. True to its name it is one of if not the largest species of Parrot snake attaining lengths of up to 88.6 inches (225cm).
These are very fast snakes which utilize their cryptic coloration and quick movements to avoid predators and to sneak up on their favorite prey item sleeping tree frogs. Tree frogs are primarily nocturnal and more alert at night than in the daytime whereas these snakes are only active during the day.

On my first night at Jungla Del Jaguar in Costa Rica I went for a night hike on one of the trails there. It was pretty dry and I didn't find much at all but scared up some big mammal (maybe a tapir) and felt like I had other animals creeping around me in the thick vegetation. Puma sightings are quite common here and Jaguars are also known for the area so it was a little scary to be hiking on my own in the jungle in an area I hadn't even seen in the daytime yet. I had recovered from getting Covid just before our trip and hiking wore me out much faster than usual. I was also note use to the very high humidity which soaked my clothes.

Ultimately, I gave up on that trail after only seeing a few common rain frogs. On my way back to the Lodge I decided to walk the edge of an open area and shine the trees for sleeping snakes. Several kinds of snakes including parrot snakes can be found curled up in vegetation at night and their bellies reflect pretty brightly in a flashlight beam making them relatively easy to spot. After hiking for hours and not seeing anything it was surprising how quickly I spotted a parrot snake in a tree on the edge of this open area right by the lodge. I was able to gently pull the tree branch down it was resting on and capture the snake. It was at this point that I realized I had forgotten to bring my flash with me on the hike. So I bagged the snake up so I could take photos of it the next day and release it where it was found.

I had a good photo session with the snake the next day. Fast hyperactive snakes like this one can be a challenge to photograph and require some handling to try and get them to hold still for a second or two. While handling this one it repaid me by bighting me and getting its rear fangs right through my work glove which surprised me a bit. Now these snakes are not venomous their rear fangs are used to hang on to slippery amphibian prey items only. However, their saliva does have an anti-coagulant and probably some other attributes that help them in digesting prey. The anticoagulant properties were readily evident as the small little puncture wounds bled pretty freely but nothing a tight bandaid couldn't fix. Some people have reported some slight tingling or numbness, but I felt none of that.

Parrot snakes are one of my favorite kinds of snakes to find in Latin America and I was very happy that my first snake of the trip started off with this species. I had found a Giant Parot snake sleeping even higher in a tree last time I was in Costa Rica and posted about that last year. This individual was a bit smaller than the animal I found last year but neither of them were even half the size they can get to.

Massurana - Clelia clelia
I recently returned from an anniversary trip with my wife to the Osa Penninsula of Costa Rica. We spent time at several places that we had never been before and got to see a lot of beautiful places and animals. This wasn't really a wildlife photography trip but I did manage to find several animals that I had hoped to see. First off is the snake I most hoped to find on this trip. This is the Massurana or Clelia clelia. It is a venomous species of snake that specializes in eating other snakes, including highly venomous species like the Fer-De-Lance. It uses its venom and strong constriction to subdue its serpent prey which it then swallows whole from head to tail.

Although this species is venomous, it is very docile and doesn't attempt to bite humans. It also doesn't want to hold still for a photograph, which is why I ultimately had to get a photo in hand. I don't usually like photos in hand like this except for when I really want to remember the moment of capturing and admiring such a beautiful serpent up close and to get a perspective of its size. The snake was released unharmed exactly where it was found not long after capture. One reason I really hoped to find this species on this trip was that I found one last year crossing a road, and I let it get away without a photo. The specimen last year was probably 18 inches longer than this specimen, but this was still a very impressive snake. I have a thing for black snakes, and these are probably my favorite of all the black snakes I have ever found in the wild.

This trip was my first time trying out the Olympus 12-45mm F4 lens also. I bought it for both wide-angle landscapes and wide-angle closeups of bigger animals like this. It is very sharp, light , compact, and very versatile with an amazing close focus capability. The only thing I don't like about it but for which Olympus has failed me in every single lens I have tried is in Sunstar rendering when shooting into the sun or bright lights. I really like sunstars but they aren't for everyone and as I will show in some landscape photos from this trip the sunstars are messy and flare is evident more than it should be. Still I will keep this lens for its compactness and versatility for working close with animals like this.

I have been taking a very extended break from flickr but hope to start posting animals from this trip as I have time to go through them.

Eyelash
Viper
Bocaraca
(Bothriechis schlegelii)

Eyelash Viper
Bocaraca
(Bothriechis schlegelii)

Eyelash Viper
Bocaraca
(Bothriechis schlegelii)

Es una especie de serpiente venenosa de América Central y Sudamérica.Otros nombres comunes incluyen: oropel, toboba de pestañas, terciopelo de pestañas, víbora amarilla (para la variedad de este color)
Eyelash Viper
Bocaracá
(Bothriechis schlegelii)

We got to our first AirBNB late on the 18th of December and it was already cold and wet from an earlier rain. By the time we got unpacked and ate dinner it was even colder.

I decided me and my son would just hike around that property that night and see what we could find. I thought for sure we could turn up some frogs or toads but we saw and heard none. It is supposed to be the dry season in Costa Rica now but there has been a very extended wet season in many areas. The amphibians however had probably already migrated away from their breeding and hatching sites in anticipation of the dry season which should have been well under way. We hiked up the long approach road from the house towards the highway to a section with a bunch of little rocks next to the steep dirt road and my son suggested I should look under some of them. Looking under rocks at night is not something I typically do but what the heck. Sure enough under one of the first rocks we found some kind of little snake about 6 inches in length. I knew it wasn't venomous and thought at first it was maybe a coffee snake or some kind of tantilla so we brought it back to the house to lookup in our reptile guide and take some photos. It turned out to be a Collared Pygmy Snake (Trimetopon pliolepis) which is only known from isolated locations in Costa Rica including the area we were staying in. This snake is not seen too often due to its fossorial nature. It sure was a pretty little shiny snake.

Red- eyed Leaf Frog
Rana de hoja de ojos rojos
( Agalychnis Callidryas )

Eyelash Viper
Bocaraca
(Bothriechis schlegelii)

Es una especie relativamente pequeña, Poseen una cabeza triangular, con ojos de pupilas verticales. A cada lado de la cabeza tienen una foseta loreal ubicada entre el ojo y el hocico, que sirve para detectar presas que emiten radiación infrarroja.
Eyelash Viper
Bocaraca
(Bothriechis schlegelii)

Annulated Tree Boa
Boa arborícola anillada
( Corrallus annulatus)

Es una especie de serpiente venenosa de América Central y Sudamérica.
se caracteriza por su amplia gama de variantes de color, así como por una especie de “cuernos” situados sobre los ojos.
Eyelash Viper
Bocaraca
(Bothriechis schlegelii)

Masked Treefroog
Rana arboricola enmascarada
( Smilisca phaeota )

Crimson-rumped toucanet
Tucanete culirrojo
(Aulacorhynchus haematopyg

Dark-Eyed Leaf Frog
Rana de Hoja de Ojos Negros
(Agalychnis spurrelli )

Es una especie de víbora venenosa.
Estas serpientes prefieren permanecer enroscadas y quietas, confiando en su camuflaje para evitar la detección, en lugar de defenderse agresivamente. Sin embargo, intentará morder con rapidez si se le toca.
Green Palm pitviper
Toboba lora
( Bothriechis lateralis )

Lesser Violetear,
Colibrí Oreja Violeta
(Colibri cyanotus)

Collared Aracari
(Pteroglossus torquatus)
Arasarí Acollarado