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The Four-lined Whiptail (Chisbala de Cuatro Rayas) – Holcosus quadrilineatus is a medium-sized lizard found in the lowlands of both coasts of Costa Rica. There are three other similar lizards in Costa Rica. Here’s a couple of my shots of one at Hotel Banana Azul on the Beach Road.
See all of my CR Lizards GALLERIES.
¡Pura Vida!
. . . which is not an exact match to any of the online baby iguanas or baby basilisks, thus I’m not positive it is the correct ID. During a morning garden walk he was crawling through the ground cover plants, partly hidden. I’m always frustrated when I can’t make an exact identification, but that is the way nature is! 🙂 Here’s two shots and you decide . . .
WARNING! The photos in this post are graphic and could be considered gross, especially if you are a lizard or have close friends who are lizards! 🙂
I was waiting for my driver from Atenas to arrive at Maquenque for lunch and our return trip home when one of the lodge staff come running in, excitedly telling me that there was a Toucan in a tree in front of the restaurant eating a lizard. Of course I grabbed my camera and ran out for some photos which were difficult because of the poor light in the tree at almost 12 noon! But here’s 5 shots of the Yellow-throated Toucan with his captured lizard and the final shot of another toucan either stealing lizard meat from him or having it shared. I could not tell which. 🙂
The other morning just after breakfast I noticed this immature Black or Spiny-tailed Iguana climbing up my Guarumo or Cecropia Tree for the flowers which the toucans also like to eat. Notice no stripes, no spines on his tail (as on full-grow adults) and only barely starting spines on his back which is typical of the adolescent or young adult Black Iguanas. If he were still a baby, he would be green like the Green Iguanas! But at this age I’m sure of my ID! 🙂 We do have both of those iguanas here and this one is the largest of all our lizards.
The Black or Spiny-tailed Iguana, Ctenosaura similis (Wikipedia article) are found throughout Central America & Mexico and in some Columbian islands in both the Caribbean Sea and Pacific Ocean. They have been introduced in Florida, but not native there. They are the largest of the two types of iguanas we have here. See my Black Spiny-tailed Iguana GALLERY for more photos. Its been a while since I’ve had one in my yard though they are possible anywhere, even in downtown Atenas! 🙂
Continue reading “Iguana in the Guarumo”
Anyone who has lived in a tropical climate has experienced Geckos if not other lizards living in your house. They are the best mosquito repellant and eat many other insects also, thus I’m glad I have Geckos! And I don’t object to other types of small lizards as they all eat insects! 🙂 This one in my kitchen yesterday was not like the other Geckos I have seen but when I looked him up in the book he seems to be just a different species of Gecko called a “Common House Gecko” (Wikipedia link) and it is a non-native “introduced” species, one of 9 species in Costa Rica now. That ID and number of species is from Amphibians and Reptiles of Costa Rica, a Pocket Guide by Chacón and Johnson.
And here’s three more cellphone photos of the one yesterday . . .
Continue reading “Living with Lizards”
This particular lizard, Four-lined Ameiva, seems to be fairly common in Costa Rica as I have seen him in other places. But not to be confused with the Central American Ameiva whose stripes are different and may be even more common. 🙂 The two name links above are to my galleries for each.
¡Pura Vida!
The lizard is lucky because Scarlet-rumped Tanagers don’t eat lizards! 🙂 When I photographed the Tanager I did not notice the lizard below him until the image was enlarged on my laptop screen. Bigger birds eat lizards this size! 🙂
¡Pura Vida!
I’ve galleries on two varieties of Scarlet-rumped Tanagers:
Earlier I shared two videos of virtual night & day rainforest hikes with one of the young female guides at Selva Verde Lodge, Melany Ocón. The kind I experience on my trips, though we see more on our live hikes than these short videos . . .
Today is a hike with one of the young male guides whom I have been hiking with before when there (an expert on frogs). We saw a lot more than they see on this video, but it gives you an idea of what it is like to hike at Selva Verde Lodge & Reserve, one of my many favorite places in Costa Rica. You will see a couple of frogs, a helmeted lizard, a pit viper and an anteater, so worth your effort to watch for 20 minutes and see just a little of why I love to explore the forests of Costa Rica with guides like Iván and Melany. June 30 I head north of Sarapiqui (location of these videos) for a week at Maquenque Lodge with other guides but similar experiences. And remember that English is not their first language! They do much better with English than I do with Spanish! 🙂
“If man doesn’t learn to treat the oceans and the rainforest with respect, man will become extinct.”
~Peter Benchley
And for my photos of two visits to Selva Verde Lodge, Sarapiqui:
2019-May 9-15 — Selva Verde Lodge Sarapiqui
2016 December 23-27 – Selva Verde Lodge, Sarapiqui
¡Pura Vida!
This is not all that I saw! There were really a lot of lizards of all kinds, especially a lot of Common Basilisks, which I never got a good photo of except the one juvenile below without the crown on his head. And as usual a lot more butterflies than I could ever get photos of. Plus my main focus is always birds! 🙂 But here is some “other wildlife”:
CLICK IMAGE TO ENLARGE
Walking is my main method of relaxation. I don’t go over my lines or try to solve the world’s problems, I just enjoy the scenery and the wildlife.
~Kevin Whately
¡Pura Vida!
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| Tawny Tree Frog Corcovado National Park, Costa Rica |
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| Red-eyed Tree Frog Aguila de Osa Inn, Drake Bay, Costa Rica |
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| Common Rain Frog Aguila de Osa Inn, Drake Bay, Costa Rica |
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| American Crockodile Mangrove Forest, Drake Bay, Costa Rica |
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| Skink Aguila de Osa Inn, Drake Bay, Costa Rica |
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| Unknown Lizard Corcovado National Park, Costa Rica |
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| Unknown Lizard (on guide Tony) Corcovado National Park, Costa Rica |
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| Baby Boa Constrictor (On guide Carlos)
Aguila de Osa Inn, Drake Bay, Costa Rica |