Peruvian Amazon Part 3, Snakes
Posted: March 22nd, 2013, 5:12 pm
This is part 3 of 3 in a series. For part 1, visit here:
http://www.fieldherpforum.com/forum/vie ... =2&t=15446
For part 2, visit here:
http://www.fieldherpforum.com/forum/vie ... =2&t=15525
Finding snakes in the tropics can be challenging. They seem to be found in streaks and, taking road cruising out of the equation, it’s not uncommon to go a day or two between coming across them. That being said, at the end of every Peruvian Amazon trip, the list of snakes is impressive.
Boa constrictors are common throughout, but they are sometimes tough to find. On a typical trip, we usually come across one somewhere, sometimes right in the middle of camp. This year, the only one we found this trip was brought into camp by the locals. They are quite beautiful from this area!
Boa Constrictor
Amazon Tree Boas are quite common and we generally find multiple specimens per trip. They come in multiple color phases, with the drab gray being the most common. Unfortunately, we did not find any red phase this year, they can be stunning! They are often found right in camp, on the trails and on the shore near bodies of water. Here’s some that we did find.
Corallus hortulanus
Amazon Tree Boa
The Rainbow Boas from this area spectacular. They are not uncommonly found, most years, multiples are found. This year, we only found 1, a beautiful adult found by Jake.
Epicrates cenchria
Peruvian Rainbow Boa
Maybe it is because I usually go to the Amazon in January through March, when the river water is usually fairly high, but I don’t find many Anacondas. I have found a few over the years, mostly smaller ones along the smaller waterways on the trails. This year, we had one brought in by the local fisherman.
Eunectes murinus
Anaconda
The genus Atractus is a farily large genus in the new world tropics. These are fossorial snakes and there are an unknown amount of species around the Peruvian Amazon. To me, they are generally very hard to identify. Most are small, but I have found them up to 4 feet long.
Atractus collaris
Jim found this first one in the leaf litter along the long trail.
Atractus snethlageae
This Chironius was seen as it was coiled up up about 20 feet up in a tree. We made an effort to catch it and watched it go higher into the trees. This thing was at least 8 feet long and gorgeous. I actually got a good view of the snake as it headed higher, but I could not get better photos.
Chironius exoletus
Forest Racer
These Chironius were found in multiple locations. The first one was seen swimming in the Rio Orosa and then photographed near the shore. They are fairly abundant daytime snakes.
Chironius fuscus
Common Whipsnake
Another fairly common racer is the Common Glossy Racer. I found this one at night on the long trail (first photo in-situ)
A juvenile was found at Santa Cruz.
Liophis is a genus of snakes that I am quite familiar with in Central America. On most Peru trips, I find a species or two. Liophis typhlus is a common daytime snake in the Amazon and it’s usually found on the ground. They are fairly fast and when agitated, they expose a hood, kind of like a Heterdon. I have been bitten by them many times with no reaction, but Dan got bit by one this trip and he did have a small reaction to the bite. L. typhus comes in multiple color phases, gray, brown, red, green, and blue. Here is a few of the specimens found.
Liophis typhlus
Velvety Swamp Snake
Helicops is a genus of South American Watersnakes. They look and act much like Nerodia. They are fairly aggressive fish and frog eaters. Last year, I got bit by one and it quickly wrapped around me constricting my entire thumb, squeezing. It took a while to get it off! I have no idea if there is any documentation of them being constrictors. H. angulatus seems to be the most common species in the genus, but we do find at least 3 more species occasionally. This year, we found an exceptionally colored H. angulatus. The first one is a normal color phase specimen.
Helicops angulatus
South American Banded Water Snake
This year, we came across what I believe to be H. yacu at Madre Selva.
Helicops yacu
Peruvian Keelback
I have a longtime love of the Oxyrhopus. It started back in the early 1990’s when I found a beautiful O. petolarius in Costa Rica. We found all 3 species (that I know of) in the Peruvian Amazon on this trip. They are nocturnal.
Oxyrhopus formosus
Yellow Headed Calico Snake
Oxyrhopus melanogenys
Black Headed Calico Snake
Oxyrhopus petolarius
Banded Calico Snake
Xenoxybelis are very photogenic. Though diurnal, I find many more on branches at night.
Xenoxybelis argenteus
Striped Green Vine Snake
Dipsas catesbyi
Ornate Snail Eating Snake
Imantodes cenchoa is very common and we found many this trip. We found one that was in the process of eating an Anolis!
Imantodes cenchoa
Blunt Headed Tree Snake
This is a species I have not found before, I was quite excited when John brought this back to camp at Santa Cruz!
Imantodes lentiferus
Amazon Blunt Headed Tree Snake
We don’t find these every trip, so finding one was pretty exciting!
Siphlophus cervinus
Common Liana Snake
I found this guy a foot off of the ground crawling around a tree stump. The first shot is in-situ.
Tripanurgos compressus
Red Vine Snake
Aquatic Coral Snakes were probably the most commonly found snake this trip. I think most nights, two or more were found. If you targeted them by walking off trail along the small creeks, you could fairly easily find them. Most found this trip were small. The first one was on the trail in-situ.
Though there are at least 7 species of Micrurus there, we only found two species this year. There were 4 of these that showed up at different times during the trip.
Micrurus lemniscatus
Eastern Coral Ribbon Snake
And on to the Pit Vipers. The ever common Fer-De-Lance turned out to be not so common. I think we found a total of 4 of them during the trip, including a resident that was found multiple times right in camp at Madre Selva. This juvenile was the only one I photographed.
Bothrops atrox
South American Lancehead
I saved the best for last. I have gone on 22 trips to Bushmaster habitat in my life, and have yet to find one. I did get to photograph one in Costa Rica that was found a few days prior to my arrival. On one trip to Peru, a similar experience presented itself. On our second to last day in Santa Cruz (towards the end of the trip), Mike and I were walking up the main trail at about 1 AM. It was a misty night and we had seen quite a few snakes on the hike. We were about ¾ mile from the camp on our way when we looked up and guess what we saw.
This was one of the more remarkable moments of my life. Mike and I just looked at it in awe for what seemed to be a few minutes. We got some photos before bagging it for daytime photos. This was an incredible experience, one I will never forget. It was released the next day at the same spot.
and the release:
Lachesis muta
Bushmaster
Thanks to Marisa for this shot!
This was a very successful trip and I could not have enjoyed it more. There were such good people on the trip, and the herping was spectacular, as usual. I hope others put their trip reports up also!
http://www.fieldherpforum.com/forum/vie ... =2&t=15446
For part 2, visit here:
http://www.fieldherpforum.com/forum/vie ... =2&t=15525
Finding snakes in the tropics can be challenging. They seem to be found in streaks and, taking road cruising out of the equation, it’s not uncommon to go a day or two between coming across them. That being said, at the end of every Peruvian Amazon trip, the list of snakes is impressive.
Boa constrictors are common throughout, but they are sometimes tough to find. On a typical trip, we usually come across one somewhere, sometimes right in the middle of camp. This year, the only one we found this trip was brought into camp by the locals. They are quite beautiful from this area!
Boa Constrictor
Amazon Tree Boas are quite common and we generally find multiple specimens per trip. They come in multiple color phases, with the drab gray being the most common. Unfortunately, we did not find any red phase this year, they can be stunning! They are often found right in camp, on the trails and on the shore near bodies of water. Here’s some that we did find.
Corallus hortulanus
Amazon Tree Boa
The Rainbow Boas from this area spectacular. They are not uncommonly found, most years, multiples are found. This year, we only found 1, a beautiful adult found by Jake.
Epicrates cenchria
Peruvian Rainbow Boa
Maybe it is because I usually go to the Amazon in January through March, when the river water is usually fairly high, but I don’t find many Anacondas. I have found a few over the years, mostly smaller ones along the smaller waterways on the trails. This year, we had one brought in by the local fisherman.
Eunectes murinus
Anaconda
The genus Atractus is a farily large genus in the new world tropics. These are fossorial snakes and there are an unknown amount of species around the Peruvian Amazon. To me, they are generally very hard to identify. Most are small, but I have found them up to 4 feet long.
Atractus collaris
Jim found this first one in the leaf litter along the long trail.
Atractus snethlageae
This Chironius was seen as it was coiled up up about 20 feet up in a tree. We made an effort to catch it and watched it go higher into the trees. This thing was at least 8 feet long and gorgeous. I actually got a good view of the snake as it headed higher, but I could not get better photos.
Chironius exoletus
Forest Racer
These Chironius were found in multiple locations. The first one was seen swimming in the Rio Orosa and then photographed near the shore. They are fairly abundant daytime snakes.
Chironius fuscus
Common Whipsnake
Another fairly common racer is the Common Glossy Racer. I found this one at night on the long trail (first photo in-situ)
A juvenile was found at Santa Cruz.
Liophis is a genus of snakes that I am quite familiar with in Central America. On most Peru trips, I find a species or two. Liophis typhlus is a common daytime snake in the Amazon and it’s usually found on the ground. They are fairly fast and when agitated, they expose a hood, kind of like a Heterdon. I have been bitten by them many times with no reaction, but Dan got bit by one this trip and he did have a small reaction to the bite. L. typhus comes in multiple color phases, gray, brown, red, green, and blue. Here is a few of the specimens found.
Liophis typhlus
Velvety Swamp Snake
Helicops is a genus of South American Watersnakes. They look and act much like Nerodia. They are fairly aggressive fish and frog eaters. Last year, I got bit by one and it quickly wrapped around me constricting my entire thumb, squeezing. It took a while to get it off! I have no idea if there is any documentation of them being constrictors. H. angulatus seems to be the most common species in the genus, but we do find at least 3 more species occasionally. This year, we found an exceptionally colored H. angulatus. The first one is a normal color phase specimen.
Helicops angulatus
South American Banded Water Snake
This year, we came across what I believe to be H. yacu at Madre Selva.
Helicops yacu
Peruvian Keelback
I have a longtime love of the Oxyrhopus. It started back in the early 1990’s when I found a beautiful O. petolarius in Costa Rica. We found all 3 species (that I know of) in the Peruvian Amazon on this trip. They are nocturnal.
Oxyrhopus formosus
Yellow Headed Calico Snake
Oxyrhopus melanogenys
Black Headed Calico Snake
Oxyrhopus petolarius
Banded Calico Snake
Xenoxybelis are very photogenic. Though diurnal, I find many more on branches at night.
Xenoxybelis argenteus
Striped Green Vine Snake
Dipsas catesbyi
Ornate Snail Eating Snake
Imantodes cenchoa is very common and we found many this trip. We found one that was in the process of eating an Anolis!
Imantodes cenchoa
Blunt Headed Tree Snake
This is a species I have not found before, I was quite excited when John brought this back to camp at Santa Cruz!
Imantodes lentiferus
Amazon Blunt Headed Tree Snake
We don’t find these every trip, so finding one was pretty exciting!
Siphlophus cervinus
Common Liana Snake
I found this guy a foot off of the ground crawling around a tree stump. The first shot is in-situ.
Tripanurgos compressus
Red Vine Snake
Aquatic Coral Snakes were probably the most commonly found snake this trip. I think most nights, two or more were found. If you targeted them by walking off trail along the small creeks, you could fairly easily find them. Most found this trip were small. The first one was on the trail in-situ.
Though there are at least 7 species of Micrurus there, we only found two species this year. There were 4 of these that showed up at different times during the trip.
Micrurus lemniscatus
Eastern Coral Ribbon Snake
And on to the Pit Vipers. The ever common Fer-De-Lance turned out to be not so common. I think we found a total of 4 of them during the trip, including a resident that was found multiple times right in camp at Madre Selva. This juvenile was the only one I photographed.
Bothrops atrox
South American Lancehead
I saved the best for last. I have gone on 22 trips to Bushmaster habitat in my life, and have yet to find one. I did get to photograph one in Costa Rica that was found a few days prior to my arrival. On one trip to Peru, a similar experience presented itself. On our second to last day in Santa Cruz (towards the end of the trip), Mike and I were walking up the main trail at about 1 AM. It was a misty night and we had seen quite a few snakes on the hike. We were about ¾ mile from the camp on our way when we looked up and guess what we saw.
This was one of the more remarkable moments of my life. Mike and I just looked at it in awe for what seemed to be a few minutes. We got some photos before bagging it for daytime photos. This was an incredible experience, one I will never forget. It was released the next day at the same spot.
and the release:
Lachesis muta
Bushmaster
Thanks to Marisa for this shot!
This was a very successful trip and I could not have enjoyed it more. There were such good people on the trip, and the herping was spectacular, as usual. I hope others put their trip reports up also!