Simon Thomsett

Category: Costa Rica | Date: Aug 29 2008 | By: simonthomsett

On the night of 24th June 2008, Laila, Guido and I went to an innocuous little pond just off the side of the road on Friends of Osa land. It did not look promising but the first step off the road revealed a Red-eyed Tree frog. This is the quintessential frog of Central America. Just like his photo in magazines, or on T-shirts sported in down town Nairobi, these medium-sized frogs are stunning to look at. Cartoon-like Kermits, with huge sticky hands and enormous globular crimson eyes. Along their sides is a series of stripes, and sometimes, on their backs, are a few white spots. Stretched out a big one would be about 10 inches or 25cm, much bigger than you think. Bunched up they are about 10-14cm.

Red-eyed Tree Frog (Photo by Laila Bahaa-el-din)

The swamp had risen, coming up to belly button level.

In the torch light, you could see eyes twinkling on the water, under water, in the reeds and in the palm leaves above. Water spiders, often 25 cm across stood dangling their arms in the water to catch insects and even small fish.

Fishing spider (Photo by Laila Bahaa-el-din)

The Marine Toad is a melon of a toad, huge and tame. The Smoky jungle Frog equaled it in size, but had bigger eyes. A young caiman floated a few feet away, and beyond it a much larger one was in the light. In one spot we saw 5 Cat-eyed Snakes, and all around were mating Red-eyed Tree Frogs. There were yellow frogs too. On leaf frond tips hung bunches of clear jelly housing a nursery of tadpoles. Occasionally a large log would nudge against the back of my leg sending me into spasms! I once slid down the back of a giant Nile Crocodile and it is an experience I have never forgotten. I had to remind myself that the caiman is small and local crocodiles very seldom hurt people.

Baby caiman in the swamp (Photo by Laila Bahaa-el-din)

A small squirrel-sized Mouse Opossum sat in the base of a palm frond chewing a palm fruit, and nearby a possible Four-eyed Opossum. A Parrot Snake caught by Guido put on a threatening show, and finished this off by biting him fair and square on the hand. It took us by surprise, and none of us thought to help him as he calmly prized it off his bleeding hand.

Parrot Snake (Photo by Laila Bahaa-el-din)

(Photo by Laila Bahaa-el-din)
A young Iguana sat with a large insect on its head, and a few meters further on a large menacing spider was consuming its prey.
Every step you took showed a new animal. Having been to a few of the world’s wildlife “hot-spots” I have never seen an example where so many species of animals occurred in so small an area no bigger than a garage. Although very tired we persevered to another stream to find the Glass Frog, a transparent frog in which you can see its heart beating. We saw many things but sadly not this frog.

Glass frog (Photo by Laila Bahaa-el-din)

Tags: caiman, Costa Rica, frog, Snake, Swamp

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