Wounds, Scars, and Testosterone
More information flows from trail cameras than I ever could have imagined back in 2011 when I started using them. Hiking or wandering through the rainforest is interesting whether or not you see any charismatic fauna of which there are 100s of species including anteaters, agoutis, all kinds of snakes, poison dart frogs, many different species of birds large and small, bright, and dull, and several species of carnivores. But how often do you see a jaguarundi, an ocelot, a tayra, or a puma? I recently retrieved and reviewed the memory card of a trail camera that was located at the edge of a swampy forest that bordered an open area. On the computer monitor I saw 11 different species of mammals, including three carnivores, six different birds, and one reptile. During the fifty years that I have lived near the rainforest I have seen all but one of the animals that were captured by the camera. But I had to walk 100s of hours to see some of them. Looking at the photos on that one camera taught me things and stimulated me to investigate things that otherwise would have taken me years to learn. Let me give you an example.
The memory card contained over 4500 photos all captured during the two months since I put it in the camera and flipped the “on” switch. As always, the first three photos were of me moving out of the field of view of the camera after turning it on. The fourth photo was a coati with a large wound on the side of its head. The quality of the photo was good, but even so I couldn’t be sure if the coati’s left ear had been torn off or not. As the wound healed more photos of the same animal appeared on the camera and it became obvious that the ear was still there right where it was supposed to be and in good shape. It was also clear that the wound was healing properly.
OFFSHORE FISHING
Curry
In 2022 they had over 3000 preventions to keep swimmers from the dangerous rip currents at both beaches. They performed 13 rescues and another 10 first aid applications. Without them many lives may have been lost.
On April 7th and 8th will be the 10th annual Semana Santa Classic surf contest in Dominical. Dozens of businesses are sponsoring the event and the best surfers in the country will compete for cash and prizes with all the proceeds going to the lifeguard program. Later in the year will be a 4th of July party and hopefully a second edition of the Uvita Brewery Summer Benefit.
What’s Shaking @ Marina Pez Vela
Bienvenidos… Welcome to the land of Pura Vida. Let us help guide you through this very busy month of April. There is a lot of celebrating going on this month. With Semana Santa being one of the busiest weeks of the year here in Manuel Antonio. So, relax, have patience, and enjoy the celebration.
Each year I pay dues to be a 1% for the Planet member. They encourage partnerships between businesses and non-profits globally and facilitate donations and do marketing for those non-profit organizations. The group I support with my 1% of my profits is called CREMA—Conservación, protección y Restauración de Especies Marinas Amenazadas (Conservation, Protection and Restoration of Threatened Marine Species).
This group I have supported for over 20 years. On one of the first surf trips to Costa Rica I met Randall Arauz and through the years we have worked to identify sea turtle species that came up on the beach, both alive and as carcasses, and to protect the endangered species from trawling, tuna farms, and turtle egg thieves. I sponsor five turtles a year through their website, crema.org and I get a certificate showing the geolocation of each turtle that was tagged and a photo.
The Offshore fishing has been excellent this past month and should continue through March & April. We are in the midst of peak Sailfish season right now and there have been some exceptional Sailfishing days in recent weeks with many boats releasing upwards of 10 Sailfish in a day, and on occasion some boats have been releasing 20+ Sails in a day when the bite is on. The Blue Marlin fishing has been great also with lots of Blue Marlin being caught. There have been some big Black Marlin caught at our Offshore reefs, many of these fish in excess of 500lbs. In addition to the Blues, Blacks, and Sails, there have been some Striped Marlin being caught also and when those guys are running it will give you your best shot at the coveted Grand Slam here in CR of 3 different Billfish species in one day.
“I saw it too. It’s right there”, I pointed. Juan hastily dug a flashlight out of his backpack and shined it where I pointed. Right in the middle of the trail, coiled and posed to strike was a terciopelo viper (Bothrops asper). Normally we would have just gone around it and left it alone, but the trail was cut into the side of a hill with a steep upward slope to the left and an equally steep downward slope to the right. I found a long, forked stick and nudged it, assuming it would move out of the way. To our surprise, it attacked. While holding it off with the stick, we retreated backwards on the uneven trail with an occasional stumble. A fall would have been disastrous. It finally quit lunging at us, crawled off the trail, down the hill and let us pass. We both let out audible sighs of relief. It was a good sized terciopelo, about a meter and a half long and as big around as my wrist. Holding it away with a stick had been quite a tussle.
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