Encounter With A Water Opossum

A few years ago I was traveling with a family from Florida with 2 teenage boys. We were staying at the Selva Verde Lodge, on the Sarapiqui River near Puerto Viejo. The boys were eager to take a night walk along the river, as night walks can be very productive, and this one was no exception.WATER OPOSSUM
ZORRO DE AGUA
Chironectes minimus

We shined our light on what we thought was a frog and were making a move to grab it but to our surprise it turned out to be a Water Opossum (Chironectes minimus). Having heard of this rare marsupial for a long time, I was very excited to see one for the first time.

We had approached it in a very agressive manner and it swam away from us very quickly, but we were able to follow it with out flashlights. It did not swim in a straight line but had an evasive pattern of very tight circles, more like that of a moth caught on the water surface.

The water Opossum or "Zorro de Agua" is only one of nine different opossums found in Costa Rica. It is found almost everywhere in the country from sea level to about 1800 meters. It is almost always found near rivers, streams, or lakes. It is most common around fast moving water in the hills and mountains and is rare or absent in the slow moving waters of the lowlands.

It is common in many areas althoa few people have seen them as they are exclusively nocturnal and spend their days deep in their dens dug into the banks of a river or stream. They buid their nests of leaves and grasses.

These Water Opossums are marsupials and have a very interesting pouch with the opening towards the rear. They usually bear two to three young which are carried in the mother's pouch. The pouch has a sphincter muscle which keeps the young dry while the mother swims. The male also has a pouch.

The Water Opossum is a strong swimmer and have large hind feet which are completely webbed. At night they move over the rocks along the shore searching for any small creature they might eat. The palms of their front paws have very rough skin which helps hold onto their prey.

Tayra, The Baddest Critter Around

Attitude! You haven't seen attitude until you have seen a Tayra. I really believe a Tayra would take on anything. Mike McKoy once saw a Tayra take on a White-faced Capuchin Monkey, kill it and eat it. The monkey was quite a bit bigger than the Tayra.

There is a trail in Sarapiqui that I like to hike. Often I would find porcupine quills stuck in the bark of of trees on this trail. It was as if some animal had slammed the porcupine into the tree sticking it to the tree so that the poor creature could be eaten in safety. Could that be?

A Tayra lived on that same trail. I would stand in a certain spot and clack my teeth together through cupped hands. This almost always brought out the Tayra and always had a chalenging look as if it were looking for a fight. I really think the Tayra was killing and eating the porcupines.

PHOTO BY JERE MCKINNEY

I once took my kids to the San Diego Zoo. They had a Tayra exhibit but the Tayras were in the back of the exhibit where they couldn't be seen. I was really disappointed and so I clacked my teeth together and out they came again as if they were looking for a fight.

Mississippi Roadhouse and More

Tony, Daniel, and Patrik

and cousin Steven

were the cooks at the Mississippi Road House on Christmas afternoon. We fried about 30 pounds of fish as well as hush puppies and deep fried pickles. There was cole slaw and rice and plenty to drink.

Photo from Sam and Sergios wedding on the 23rd.

All my kids were there. Caroline, Akeva (my grand daughter) and Patrik, Samantha and Sergio, Erica and Daniel. My family has grown a lot this year.

I also got to meet my new grandsons. Gati, Mathew, David in the back, and Sergio. They helped catch fish. Welcome to our family.

Mathew caught a nice sand bass.

Patrik caught a nice Calico for the fish fry.

Even El Jobo may have added a few nice fish to the mess.

A Mouse Between a Bus and a Tough Character

GRISON or HURON
Galactis vittata

One day while driving along a back country road in San Carlos in northern Costa Rica a small mouse ran out in front of our bus. The driver hit the brakes and the bus and the mouse skidded to a halt. A grison, a badger-like mammal in the weasel family, appeared out of the grass and was in hot persuit of the mouse. The bus had scared the mouse so it turned and ran back towards the grison. Realizing it had made a mistake it again turned back towards the bus. Having made another mistake it came to a complete stop. The grison paused as it was also confused by the situation and this gave the mouse time to make a decision. It made a 90 degree turn and made a b-line for the tall grass at the side of the road followed quickly by the grison.

The drama wasn't over yet as another grison appeared from the same spot as the first and followed the first into the grass. From the bus we could see the patterns made in the grass by the mouse and the two grisons. We couldn't tell whether the mouse met its end or escaped but somehow we suspect that the mouse was a lucky mouse and lived to evade the grison another day.