Costa Rica!!!

[niccoliherp]

I'm going to be going to the Osa peninsula in Costa Rica in May (only 1 month away!!!) and am needless to say, excited! Oh, and I will be stopping over in a cloud forest, and in some mangrove habitat too. I am going with my school for a class on neotropical ecology, which is awesome. I can't wait to get down there and do some herping. Unfortunately I think I will be a little "edited" in what I can and can't play with, because it is a "school function", but I'm bringing my snake hook anyways!!! Anybody been there before? Any suggestions on cool species to look for? I'm looking forward to frogs and snakes, but what else can I look for?

 

[DDReptiles]

I was out on the Osa for 2 weeks, out in the rainforest, one of the best places I have ever been in my life. Just an incredible place!! Caught a Fer-de-Lance which was my favorite thing, but lots of awesome reptiles, heck everything was amazing. I spend an hour staring at the ants alone LOL Also if you can take a dolphin boat ride out in the Bay, its cheap, and is an awesome expirience, its unlike any dolphin ride you have ever been on!!

Also went down the whole Pacific side as well as spent a few days in the Cloud Forest (lots of dart frogs) as well as other incredible reptiles and animals up there as well.

 

[niccoliherp]

Sweet! I definitely can't wait to get down there. I'm also hoping to see some sphaerodactylus, that would be pretty awesome. Some others that I'm hoping for: eyelash vipers, D. auratus and granulosa, Hylid species, Fer de lance, and whatever else is down there, ha!

 

[Riverside Reptiles]

I'm looking forward to frogs and snakes, but what else can I look for?

Hot chicks and booze! :yahoo:

 

[DDReptiles]

Yeah you should be able to find most of that, I found a few sphaerodactylus as well as a few other geckos. I didn't fnd any eyelash vipers, they wre more common on the Carribean side.

Thanks Derek

 

[Graham_s]

im not too knowledgeable about all the snake species and even less knowledgeable about the costa rican wildlife, but my friend went there a while ago and he had a guide take him around the forest who specialised in snakes, and they saw yellow eyelash vipers which i think would be amazing to see in the wild.
If you can find one, get hold of a field guide book to the wildlife in that area!

Happy holidays

 

[Marty]

I went twice to Costa Rica. First time on an Insect Biodiversity Course from the University, we stayed at the biological station. We stayed in Monteverde Cloudforest. It was great! The elevation is a bit higher so species change. Didn't see any dart frogs, but managed to see the resplendid Quetzal, which was a treat. Managed to catch some plusiotis beetles. 2nd time in addition to Monteverde we went to Rara Avis, which was great...saw lots of frogs, snakes and orchids. Hard to get there though, from what I remember 2.5 hrs ball busting ride on a back of a tractor with some crazy suspension. No matter where you go, You'll love it there. Not quite the Amazon, but excellent nevertheless. Tons of wildlife and tons of fun. Be sure to do the zip lines and canopy walks. Avoid the bullet ants

 

[niccoliherp]

Fingers crossed Ethan.

Graham, I did actually get a great book on Costa Rican herps: "The Amphibians and Reptiles of Costa Rica" by Jay M. Savage. Its huge! About a foot and a half tall by a foot wide by about 1000 pages thick. Its full of info on each species, and has dichotomous keys to key them out with if you are having problems. I love this book, theres just so much stuff down there.

Marty, thats pretty much exactly what I am doing down there, Monteverde Cloudforest, then the biological station. Not sure if we're stoping at Rara Avis though. I'm just doing it for ecology instead of insects. Glad to hear it was a nice trip. What did you see as far as insects go? How about tarantulas?

 

[DDReptiles]

I found a bunch of really cool insects down in the Osa, some Monster spiders, some roaches like the size of a small dinner plate, and one of my favorites were the shield mantids Also common were those spiders, that have like crab claws, the name escapes me but they are crazy. Also found quite a few scorpions, some of considerable size!

 

[DDReptiles]

Here is all the species I found:

SNAKES:
Boa constrictor (we also found a lot of these dead on road)
Clelia clelia
Xenodon rabdocephalus (False Tereciepelo)
Imantodes cenchoa (found a lot of these very cool snakes though)
Oxybelis aeneus
Bothrops asper (Fer-de-lance) This was my highlight for the trip this one was HUGE and gave me a run for my money.

Lizards/Geckos:
Basiliscus basiliscus
Basiliscus plumifrons
Corytophanes cristatus
Ctenosaura similis (Rock Iguana)
Iguana iguana
Norops polylepis
Norops tropidolepis
Hemidactylus garnotii (these guys were all over buildings at night)
Thecadactylus rapicauda
Lepidoblepharis xanthostigma
Ameiva quadrilineata (these guys were fast as all get outbut finally caught one)
Crocodylus acutus (never caught one as they were all a little to big LOL )
As well as 1 or 2 unidentifiable ones (some sort of sphaerodactylus) they were super small.

Frogs:
Smilisca phaeota
Dendrobates auratus
Dendrobates pumilio (blue jean frog)
Phyllobates vittatus

Turtles:
Lepidochelys olivacea

Mammals:
Mexican Mouse Opossum
Two Toed sloth
Common Tent Making Bat
White Throated Capuchin Monkey (one stole my bannana not kidding)
Squirrel Monkey
Spider Monkey
Howler Monkey
Red Tailed squirrel
Variegated squirrel
Agouti
Coati
plus a few others

 

[niccoliherp]

Awesome Derek, I will have to keep an eye out for all of those!

 

[Ken Bartenfeld]

Some interesting geckos:

Sphaerodactylus millepuntatus
Sphaerodactylus homolepis (nice)
Gonatodes albogularis

But to know as many as possible...or close to it, check this site out.

 

[niccoliherp]

Thanks Ken, I actually have that exact book. Been looking over it, but there is a ton of stuff in there. I'm not sure I can memorize it all on time, ha!

 

[weecamo]

Hot chicks and booze! :yahoo:

amen

 

[MsShlee]

i realize this is old but I am thinking of going to costa rica soon and was wondering if anyone has pics or names of good tour guides or something there . I will be staying on a resort so I am not sure where to go to get a guide

 

[moloch]

There have been posts on FHF from the Osa. Here are a few that I found:
FieldHerpForum.com • View topic - Costa Rica Part 1
FieldHerpForum.com • View topic - Crocodile and Fish (Costa Rica part2)
FieldHerpForum.com • View topic - COSTA RICA!!!!!.... .I hope you like frogs
FieldHerpForum.com • View topic - Costa Rica Part Two- Dominical and the High Country

If you use the search engine on the site, you will no doubt find many more.

Regards,
David