Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I am in costa rica right now and people woke me up because two eyelash vipers were found. One is green nd pink and the other is bright yellow. The snakes were found no more than 300 meters apart in the same type of vegitation. I have been watching them both and the green is resting in the day under a shaded leaf and the yellow is resting on a log and hunting on a leaf. Both are at the same height in day and night. I wonder if the snake has any idea it is yellow? I have never seen any kind of evidence snakes can see in any type of color but I wonder if there was some yellow around if the snake would use it?

I know this is pretty stupid but my project samples are really sucking here so I am thinking of fun stuff with these vipers. Any ideas?

Perhaps the colour is not for camoflage, but a warning?

Experiment.... got a yellow raincoat with you? Transplant some yellow flowers? (I doubt they have big sunflowers down there eh?)

Insanely jealous; post lots of pics, and don't spend to much time on the computer!

Ian

Did you find any lachesis?

We observed a golden on a tree trunk about waist high in May. It barely moved for the better part of a week, although it obviously fed one night. Its head was infested with ticks.

~~Greg~~

My tracking and notes ofthese little ones was not long lol. The yellow was on a logabout waist height (maybe a touch higher). Both the snakes lifted their heads at 5:30 pm so I took a break from watching them and figuredI would come back during heavier hunting hours. Both snakes were gone around 9:00 pm. I guess they did not like the yellow leaves lol.

Thanks for the notes.

thanks Ian. I helped out someonedoing radio telemetry on Bothrops asper and they dio not believe Lachesis is here anymore. He has not seen one in the year and a half he has been working down here.

Experiment...place yellow leaves near the snakes...conclusion...nothing lol. Like I actually thought there would be...it was fun though.

I have a few good photos but I am no expert camera guy. I have not seen a huge number of snakes either. Sample size for the study is low and my time here is better spent helping others with their research. Either way I am looking for snakes.

I do not spend much time on the computer...very very little actually but it is between most of the trails and the food so it is more of a time killer.

I got nailed by a bullet ant on my foot and it made walking no fun for a while. Someone also took my boots for TWO days and I was stuck using boots which could not have been bigger than size 8. They also had holes in them and filled with water while tracking an asper in a swamp. Im blistered up and hope it calms down so I am working on organizing stuff and playing on the computer for a bit.

Take care. I will post the few good shots I have when I return.

Sounds like a blast! Great story,

Are you down there on school related stuff?