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costa rica
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by ianb on December 3, 2004
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Don't bother replying after the 3rd. Just looking for some basic herping tips or suggestions for Pacific Coast Costa Rica around Quepos, jaco, dominical. I got my collaspabled snake tongs and I'm ready for action. I'll also have a vehicle for cruising. Highs are 80 lows 60 at night. Limited rain. The people who live on the property I will be staying at for a couple nights say they rarely see snakes although they do have a couple crocs on the river where it widens. Also, what lizards should I look for. Thanks....Ian
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RE: costa rica
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by MattHarris on December 3, 2004
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You'll sure see Ctenosaur similis, basilisks, Ameivas, Norops spp, probably Thecadactylus geckos, maybe Gonatodes, Sphearodactylus---these are what we see on the Osa.
I've never roadcruised (tough to do in Corocovado and the interior of the Osa) but we did find a boa crossing the road once. I'd say you should also see Bothrops asper. and cat-eyed snakes.
Here's a species list of what we've found:
http://www.matabuey.com/travel/OsaSpeciesList.htm
Matt
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RE: costa rica
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by Snakeman1982 on December 3, 2004
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A buddy of mine who just finished his master's said that in the tropics during and after a rain they have found around 20 different species of frogs in one night road cruising.
But remember that in the tropics it is often high diversity but low abundance. So you might not find a lot but what you do find is awesome.
My suggestion, as always, is to get Jay Savage's and Twan Leender's books on Costa Rica herps. Leender's is a good pocket field guide and Savage's book is the bible of Costa Rican herps. I have both and they are great, though I haven't been to Costa Rica to use them yet.
Robert
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What he said is true Robert.....
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by MattHarris on December 3, 2004
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but also, typically, you can find local areas with an amazing diversity and density of species, but then you may not find them for 2-3miles (or even more)...many have specific habitats, and you find scads of stuff in one river valley, then nothing for several ridges, then maybe another pocket.
I'd be interested to hear if you find the same thing in Bolivia...I want to go down there to search for Western Amazonian bushmasters.
Matt
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RE: What he said is true Robert.....
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by Snakeman1982 on December 3, 2004
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Yeah, they should have bushmasters in the region of northwestern Bolivia that I'll be in, plus a crap load of other venomous species (I counted 15 in the vicinity of where I'll be, using Campbell and Lamar's book). But I am not sure how common the venomous snakes are to find, I was told that they will be a rarity. Maybe only a couple of Bothrops during the entire trip. But I tend to get really lucky on my trips, so who knows. I really want to catch a Micrurus surinamensis or Bothrocophias about as much as a bushmaster, we'll see what happens.
I found a huge checklist of Bolivian amphibians and counted about 20 species of Hyla where I'll be plus more other amphibians than I can count, like Pipa pipa, Phyllamedusas, etc... I can't find a list for the reptiles of the area but I know its a bunch. The region hasn't been sampled much so we are really interested in what new specimens we can give the museums from the locations we visit. I sure wish Bolivia had field guides. I don't even have a good bird guide to the region. The one I am bringing is of birds in Southern South America. I hope they migrate north! Luckily the guy who will be with me the first two weeks knows all the herps in Bolivia. So I hope to learn enough to identify the species for the rest of the trip. If not I will have to film them and take slides to identify them later. I am bringing over 1,000 frames worth of slide film plus atleast 6 hours of video tape, so that may be over kill.
I am not sure how much time will be divided between lowland rainforest or cloud forest sampling but given that I'll be there for almost a month I am sure to find a heck of a lot of stuff. I think road cruising will be very productive for us, since it will be the rainy season.
Hopefully whenever I get back I'll have some advice for you if you ever choose to go to Bolivia. Maybe we'll meet in the tropics some day and share herp stories over bottles of Tecate.
Robert
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RE: What he said is true Robert.....
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by MattHarris on December 3, 2004
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Sounds good.
I drank a potion called "trago" once in Ecuador....its potent enough to "knock your Aunt Connie's socks off!"
Looking forward to hearing about it.
Matt
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