Kinkajou hunt!

12/1/2012 Dan: After breakfast, we took another guided nature walk with Jaime. Jaime walked us over to a piece of forest across the Sarapiqui River that is owned by his family. Jaime personally built a very nice trail system through this forest, including two bridges.

Again, Jaime was a wealth of interesting information about the plants, animals, and culture. He mentioned that parrots are right-side dominant just like most humans, as evidenced by a local red anatto fruit that they grab with one foot while feeding. This stains their right leg red. Jaime said that when this fruit is ripe all of the parrots have red right legs and green left legs. Susan: He also told us that lianas (woody vines) always twine in a counter-clockwise direction. Apparently EVERYTHING has a dominant hand or direction!

 

 

Look closely to see the tiny male spider above this big female. He stays above and out of her way to avoid being accidentally eaten!

 

 

Dan: The afternoon back at the retreat passed quickly. After supper Susan was determined to relocate the kinkajou. After searching several dozen trees around the main complex of buildings, Susan found her kinkajou quietly laying in a coconut palm. I was sent back to the dining pavilion to invite Emilie and Jeannet to see the kinkajou.  

This time the kinkajou was more cooperative. Although it was dark and the kinkajou was 15-20 feet up, Susan got what pictures she could. She kept repeating, "You are soooo cute!" She was not talking about me.

That evening Susan gave Davis and Meghan her Mammals of Costa Rica book. They were extremely grateful to add this excellent book to the reference collection they keep for their guests in the reception/dining pavilion.