Mammals of the Forest

We saw Collared Peccaries roaming the preserve rooting for tubers and palm nuts. They reminded me of Javalinas in Texas.

Every so often a cacophony of howler monkeys, the largest and most abundant of the four monkey species in Costa Rica, resounds throughout the forest. Their vocalizations can be heard for almost a mile! 64% of their diet is leaves, and the rest is fruit. Coming back from cutting Piper leaves today, there was a troop of White-faced Capuchins foraging in the treetops. I read that they sometimes hoard food on rainy days. How intelligent!
While at Tirimbina, we attended a fantastic bat talk by one of the guides. He told us that 10% of the 1,100 mammals in the world are bats, and that 110 species are in Costa Rica!!! Here in La Selva there are 70 species, 20 of which are fruit eating. The bat researches put up mist nets to catch bats to study. That night he showed us four, one of which is this fruit eater. I love bats because they pollinate plants and the insect eaters eat 600-900 mosquitoes a night!!! Yeah!

Dr. Dyer told me there are 180,000 described caterpillars species, but there are likely lots that have yet to be discovered. Caterpillars, like other insects, have six true legs and they also have pro legs which help them climb. It's mealtime, so I have to go. Beans, rice, cucumbers tomatoes, and scrumptious pineapple!

Arctiidae Pachydota

You all have asked some very good and interesting questions. The video of my favorite caterpillar was too large to upload, so I could only post a portion of it. At least you can see its size and how active it is. The size of the caterpillars we have collected vary from less that 1/4 " to 3 1/2 ". Some caterpillars with spines have very painful stings, so never touch one unless someone who knows for sure tells you it is okay. Dr. Dyer told me this species doesn't sting. Isn't it a fast- moving caterpillar? It was on top of the leaf when I found it, and another one was on the stem. but most caterpillars eat from underneath the leaf. Can you imagine why? Ijonai, it takes about 30 days for this insect to change from an egg to a moth. None of them have turned into butterflies or moths yet, Jay. Did you know that all butterflies are moths?

Meet a Scientist

Tirimbina Biological Reserve

This is where we are staying for the first part of our expedition. My room sleeps five, with two sets of bunk beds and a single bed. One of my roommates is from New York, another from Massachusetts, and two are California college classmates. We eat outside under a pavilion, which is really nice because we can hear the birds and other sounds of the surrounding forest.

Over the Suspension Bridge to the Forest

Each morning, we cross the longest suspension bridge in Costa Rica to do our collecting. This allows us fabulous views of the canopy-the treetops where bats are roosting under palm fronds and oropendolas are eating in cecropia trees. Also below the bridge, is the rushing Sarapiqui river, where we cool off after a long day of hiking.

White-nosed Coatis

These long tailed mammals are in the raccoon family. They must be females and young ones because I read the males usually travel alone. Their keen sense of smell helps them find fruits, mice, tarantulas, and lizards. They have long claws which enable them to dig and climb trees. Please research on the internet and/or in books to find out what other interesting mammals I might see in Costa Rica. :-)