Animal Conservation in Lago Bay – What about snakes?

Animal conservation at Lago Bay

When it comes to snakes, many people kill first and think later.

From what I've gathered over the years, it seems to me that there are way too many people that think that anything that is creepy or crawly warrants a swift boot heel or machete stroke. In this video I show an example of a catch and release of a boa constrictor. I argue for a few species in order to state the simple case that their benefits outweigh whatever downfalls with which they may be stigmatized. I use the example of the boa, the tarantula and the bat.

Tarantulas

The logic is simple. Our ecosystems are in balance and if we kill certain predators, we may be inviting worse ones to take their place. Take the tarantula for example. I've moved or simply avoided tarantulas several times. The first time I saw one in Panama it was crossing the highway. I slammed on the brakes because I had no idea what was in the road. It was about the size of a softball. I don't think that I've ever run over a tarantula.

My first major encounter with one, however, is when I had hurriedly put on my shoes and drove to a birthday party. I thought I felt scratching in my shoes as I was driving. Even though it was an hour and a half drive, I was running late and simply thought I had a little bug in my shoe. I went straight into the party and on the back patio I finally took off my shoe and out pops a fairly large tarantula. I have no idea how it was able to curl up so small and not make hardly any fuss.

Unfortunately the birthday party was for a six-year old girl with all of her cousins, friends etc. There was some screaming and scattering. Without much more thought I used the shoe and quickly flattened out the friendly spider. In hindsight I felt pretty bad about the whole thing.

Over the years I've observed tarantulas a little more carefully. They are gentle creatures but make a nice den (a hole) and pop out when they need some food. One of their favorite meals in the real 'son of a bitch' scorpion. I have been stung by many scorpions. They seem to go out of their way to zap you. It hurts! Tarantulas will help you control the scorpion population. I've never had a problem with a tarantula, and since the birthday party, no tarantula has ever had a problem with me.

Bats

Mosquitoes are another bug that I wish I could make disappear. During wet season, we have to time our evening around the mosquito hour. Bats are one of the most efficient consumers of mosquitoes. They fly around like hairy vacuum cleaners sucking up the pests. I guess some people think that bats are incredibly ugly. I'm not arguing. But, because I dislike mosquitoes much more...I've put up a few bat houses and am happy to live among these winged rats. Sure beats the other blood suckers.

Snakes

Ok. I'm back to the boa constrictor. And...I know that this is a blog about animal conservation. A more emphatic animal conservationist may be thinking that my approach is fairly back-handed or just ass backwards. Remember...I'm reaching out to those that just want to kill on site anything that falls within the 'ugly spectrum'. I'm preaching moderation based on a logic that should be palatable to even the most blood thirsty reader. You don't have to read Sun Tzu to realize that you may need some unlikely friends to avoid the worst enemies.

So...the snake. There are snakes here in Veraguas that can not only put you in the hospital...but that can put you away. The cat eyed, triangular heads mean 'no bueno'. The X snake is one of those and there are plenty of them. The best predator for this guy is the noble boa constrictor. If the snakes are equally sized or the boa is even slightly smaller, he'll squeeze his cousin and make a nice meal out of a real problem.

When I found the boa in the outdoor kitchen he had just eaten a small rodent. To get the boa in the container was easy. If there are two people, the person that spots the snake keeps his eyes fixed on the snake. The other goes for a container and a heavy rake. Gently set the heavy rake on top of the boa so that he has to slither between the teeth of the rake. Slowly turn the rake and the boa will always wrap themselves around the rake head. Pick up the rake over the container and slowly turn in the opposite direction. The snake usually unravels and falls right in. You conservation partner at that point, pops the lid on and you're ready to relocate and release just like in the video.

I'm obviously no expert, however, these are lessons that I've learned empirically over time in the tropics of Panama. I consider Lago Bay an animal conservation zone and I'm happy to include the three animals above on the friendly list. Mosquitoes, scorpions and X snakes...well...they unfortunately get the boot.

We all have our limits.

Saludos from our animal sanctuary in Lago Bay, Panama.

Animal Conservation at Lago Bay