Nothing looks the same--and what's looking
back?
Pico Bonito
Lodge offers rain forest walks at night. I've walked
many miles in rain forests, but never much at night, so I'm curious
about what I'll see on the extensive trail system behind
the lodge.
It's loud in
the forest as choruses of tree frogs express their
soprano satisfaction about the typical afternoon rain.
My guide, James,
uses a headlamp to scour the trees beside the path and almost immediately
locates a wolf spider, then a scorpion.
Not the cuddliest
of critters but nevertheless interesting. With my headlamp at eye level,
I pick out many small glowing eyes sandwiched in tree
bark and among the leaves. The strangest creature I spot is a tailless
whipscorpion.
James motions
me over to a large white object resting on a leaf: An anole
that sleeps in the middle of leaves to thwart snakes that tend
to check for edibles only at the edges.
Speaking
of snakes, they're a common sight on night walks.
Coming to a stand
of large yellow heliconias (sometimes called lobster
claws), James hopes to find an eyelash viper.
The yellow snake
likes to blend in with the yellow heliconias as it waits for frogs to
come to the water-filled lobster claws. It's not there tonight.
James speculates
the bright moonlight is keeping many creatures hidden;
the problem is if it's easy to see, it's easy
to be eaten.
As we search,
we find line after moving line of leaf-cutter ants lugging
greenery up to five times their size.
James relates
how one night he and a couple from the lodge heard loud rustlings
of an animal?but what? A jaguar?
Everyone froze
and suddenly the creature shot straight at the frightened woman,
who expected to be attacked by a jaguar.
She was relieved
when only a harmless armadillo ran between her legs.
He didn't say
how relieved she became.
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