Violated Honey Bear

Months ago when we discovered that our jungle mice will come into the house and eat just about anything, we started storing all fruits and vegetables in the refrigerator. Yes, even potatoes and bananas, things that you wouldn't ever think to put in the fridge, have to be sealed away from the stealthy rodents. We had continued to keep our garlic out on a shelf since we had never had any problems with the mice fancying a munch on that. Until this morning. We woke up to find that something had nibbled into a head of garlic. And then when I reached for the honey, I was horrified to find that our honey bear had been violated! I can only assume that the mouse had the manners to remove the bear's nose to spare it the misery of its pungent garlic breath as it then went at our poor bear's left ear.

Puffbirds and Pumas

On a walk up to Cerro Arbolito yesterday morning we heard a lot of racket in the canopy of the forest ahead of us. We recognized the noise as the alarm calls that monkeys make when they see a big cat; however, the odds that you'll ever lay eyes on a big cat are very low, so we didn't hurry ahead. The monkeys continued to scream and bark as we approached - there was an entire troop of spider monkeys and a few white-faced capuchins scattered around. When we were close enough to see where the monkeys were looking, we started to think that this cat must be relatively close. And then out stepped a puma, 5 meters directly in front of us, right out into the open trail. It paused with its right paw in mid-air. I paused, in awe. We locked eyes. And then the puma calmly turned back into the underbrush and disappeared. My camera was in my backpack, so of course I took it out and plunged into the forest to see if I could get that coveted shot, but it wasn't to be.

Instead, I got a shot of this white-necked puffbird. It stayed on this branch for ages, turning and posing. Not nearly as impressive as a large carnivore in your face, and telling somebody that you saw a puffbird somehow doesn't have the appeal that big cat sightings do. Oh well, maybe next time we're out we'll see a jaguar!

Collared Anteaters and Bamboo

We scared this guy up into the bamboo one morning a while back. Known as a Tamandua or Collared Anteater (Tamandua mexicana), these animals prefer a feast of termites rather than ants. Another thing that we learned from watching this individual's attempted escape is that they can't get a very firm grip on bamboo - it's slick surface isn't conducive to climbing. Perhaps this trait of bamboo, coupled with thick, leafy and often spiny foliage, is what draws the troops of Squirrel Monkeys (Saimiri oerstedii) in to settle many evenings.

Scarlet Macaws in the Yard

Even though there are loads of Scarlet Macaws on the Osa Peninsula (in fact, I recently read that we have the highest population in Central America), we rarely see them perching around Cerro Osa. They tend to spend a lot of time at lower elevations, especially around the beaches in the almond trees. This afternoon, however, I heard their distinctive screech and saw this couple eating some very green guavas. Of course when I grabbed the camera they flew higher to perch on the other side of the house and enjoy their fruit.