The Pit -Viper that bit our husky

This is the hognosed pit viper that bit our husky. These snakes are generally small and sluggish. They do not attack without being provoked, in case you were feeling bad for our dog! We have had very dry days lately and the snake came out to our gravel driveway to soak up some sun. It is lucky that Smokey found him first because the snake was scarily close to our house. We wear boots when we walk through the grass but when I am just hanging laundry I am only wearing sandals. We got Smoke to the vet on time for the anti-venom but not before his nose blew us to 3 times normal size. We were lucky to notice immediately after it happened or we could have lost him.

Pit Viper in Costa Rica

You are probably thinking to yourself "Why are these guys always shooting Rain Forest Hog Nosed Pit Vipers?" Well it's because we have a lot of them here on the farm and we don't have our bird stations completed yet. This guy lives on the banks of the stream in the roots of a laurel tree.

Beautiful Blue Pit Viper

This little (extremely poisonous) sweetie was right next to my foot as I was putting out laundry. I was very lucky that I saw it in time to get out of the way! After we take some more shots this morning we are going to take it back in the jungle and let it go. It is officially a rainforest hog nosed pit viper. So beautiful.

Chair Crossing

Here in Costa Rica there are many rivers to pass. These rivers swell when there is rain in the mountains. People have made fun and inventive ways to make certain that a little thing like rain doesn't stop them from going where they would like to go. We came across this chair crossing when the main pass was flooded. It was quite the people powered exhilarating ride.

Rainforest Hog-nosed Pit Viper

Barry made a bird blind from bamboo and palm fronds. He left it for 3 days with a fruit cocktail about 10 yards away for the birds to notice. On the 3rd day Barry sat in his chair, in his bird blind and waited for the toucans. He just happened to look up and this guy was above his head. He jumped back and with much haste ran into the house to get a pillowcase (not what I would do but whatever). He picked up the snake with a piece of bamboo and put him in the sack. Vipers are known to be slow and this one was, plus he was a male so his re-action time was considerably lower. We asked the dairy workers to identify the snake and they said "Tomago" or something like that and then beat the snake to a pulp. Barry got these pictures free-hand (which means not using a tri-pod, which he loathes) but this is the best we could get because he can not handhold his long lens. He of course wishes he would have gotten more and I am glad that I still have a husband.