Readers’ wildlife photos

Thank Ceiling Cat: two readers came through with photos when the tank was empty. Today’s lot comes from Leo Glenn, who sends photos from Costa Rica. His captions are indented, and you can enlarge the photos by clicking on them.

Here are some more photos from my recent trip to Costa Rica.

There are four species of monkeys in Costa Rica: the Central American squirrel monkey (Saimiri oerstedii), the Panamanian white-faced capuchin (Cebus imitator), Geoffroy’s spider monkey (Ateles geoffroyi), and the mantled howler monkey (Alouatta palliata). As we were spending most of our time in parks and nature preserves, we were hopeful that we would see at least one of the species. It came as quite a surprise to us, then, that while we saw no monkeys in any of the nature preserves, a family of mantled howlers moved Into the trees next to our rental house and spent around 45 minutes eating, lounging, and playing. It was an amazing experience.

We enjoyed watching them use their prehensile tails to move among the branches, sometimes hanging from them to reach the choicest leaves, which make up 75% of their diet.

Another species that we were hoping to catch a glimpse of was a coatimundi. And just as we pulled into the Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve, a South American coatimundi (Nasua nasua) strolled right across the parking lot.

Coatimundis, known locally as pizotes, are members of the family Procyonidae, the same family as raccoons, and they share many of the same traits. Unlike the more nocturnal raccoons, however, coatimundis are diurnal.

In the cloud forest, we came upon a nest of red-tailed stingless bees (Trigona fulviventris). Our guide said that the honey they produce is inedible, but it has been used traditionally for medicinal purposes. I couldn’t find any information on that, but I did read that the sticky resin they make to build their nests has been used by fishermen to caulk leaks in their canoes. Another occasion when I wished I had a longer lens.

A tree fern (Cyathea holdridgeana). I was particularly excited to see this, as I have been obsessed with paleontology since I was a child. Tree ferns, along with Lycopods and Horsetails, were the predominant “trees” in ancient forests, before our current trees evolved. This particular species grows at elevations of 2400-2800 m, much higher than most other tree ferns in Central America. I believe we were at around 2100 m on this tour.

A colorful group of caterpillars. I was unable to determine the species, but they appear to be a moth in the genus Euglyphis.

And finally, our rental house came with a cat [Felis catus], whose name was Linda.

Linda asking to be let in.

Below: Linda’s favorite activity, after we let her in (other than begging for something to eat). She was 17 years old, and growing deaf. Her meow was loud enough to wake the dead (something she liked to do at five in the morning outside our bedroom window). But she was otherwise spry and hale. Of course we fell in love with her.