Corcovado National Park
This morning we walked through the most amazing piece of tropical rainforest! Long hikes, short hikes, waterfall hikes ¾ Costa Rica’s Corcovado National Park offers the dream come true for hikes. Nevertheless, this is not Africa, where in the savannas, large numbers of ungulates roam. Our animals are well camouflaged, shy, nocturnal, or all of the above.
Those of us who live up north know what “Bear Sign” means. Most of the time that is the only thing one sees of a bear, and in general, that is all one wants to see. In the tropics, finding large animals is quite a challenge, but sometimes the signs may be a little more obvious than usual, especially when another naturalist and his group are walking just ahead of you…
Those of us on the long walk were presented with a rare sight: a small, but very poisonous snake just a few feet off the walking trail. A fer-de-lance! Costa Rican pit vipers, like all other viperids, have very long, hinged fangs located in the upper jaw. These hypodermic needle-like fangs are so long that the snake can only close its mouth when they are folded back against the roof of the mouth. During a bite, the fangs rotate forward into a stabbing position and the toxins get injected deep into the prey’s body. The venoms of pit vipers usually contain a high proportion of tissue destructive components (hemotoxins) and digestive enzymes. The properties of these venoms aid in the digestion of bulky prey.
Their excellent camouflage makes them extremely hard to see when they are coiled in vegetation. But do not fret my friends, these pit vipers spend most of the day coiled and concealed in vegetation. They become active at dusk when they move to their hunting sites and where they attempt to ambush prey.
