Panama Wildlife

There is a lot of wildlife in Panama, and this past month we were able to see many examples, as Heather's sister Jan and her husband Tom came for a visit.  We went with them to several locations.  Most of the pictures below were taken by Tom.

First of all, Tom and Jan took a tour of the Panama Canal with Captain Carl's Jungleland Adventure tour.  They saw lots of wild and not-so-wild creatures.  It was an entertaining tour, as Carl kept them supplied with lots of jokes and one-liners.

This capuchin monkey was pretty tame

This little guy liked getting fed by tourists

Tom gets friendly with an anaconda

Jan likes her little monkey

Tom and a little cayman

 In Panama City, there were lots of vultures around.  Some people call them the "Panamanian Air Force".

This vulture roosts on a church spire

Then it was time to visit Chepo.  Our house held a few surprises for Tom and Jan.  We let these big spiders spin their webs outside the house under the eaves of our roof and on our back porch.  They don't bother us and they eat lots of insects.  We have quite a colony of them.

We saw one of these for the first time during Tom and Jan's visit.  It's called a mountain tarantula and it is several inches across!  It was right next to the house.

In the Chepo school we found this gigantic cockroach.

After a few rainy days in Chepo, it was time to go to the beach.  We headed for the resort of Pedasi, where we hoped to find better weather.   We eventually got a clear day and took a small boat to Isla Iguana national park, where we found lots of wildlife.

A tiny hermit crab

Pelicans coming in for a landing

Another pelican

This hermit crab is outgrowing his shell

A little lizard

These vultures are drying their wings after a brief shower

There were lots of these crabs on the island

Crabs and hermit crabs attack a coconut.  There is another crab inside.

We're not sure what these hermit crabs are eating, but they look like they are enjoying it!

Eventually we found some iguanas!

The island is a nesting ground for frigate birds.  There were hundreds of them!

Frigate bird

Jan, Heather and Steve watch the birds

On the way home, we saw this guy eating a fish head by the side of the road.

Our last wild animal is a snake known as "equis" (X) in Panama.  In English it is a fer-de-lance, a very poisonous snake.  This little guy is only a foot long and maybe a half inch in diameter, but he can easily bite you.  He was just sitting in the open, which is very unusual for these snakes.  Usually they flee when humans approach.  Steve happened to be on a hike with a park ranger when they saw him.  The park ranger, who usually coexists peacefully with wildlife, wasn't taking any chances with this snake, and killed him.  Since an untreated bite from this snake can be fatal, Steve didn't argue with his decision, and waited until afterwards to take this photo.

That's it for the wildlife edition of our blog.  More news will follow later!