Even More Uvita Fauna

We've already had several more run ins with a bunch of new and interesting creatures here. Stories and pictures abound. I have a feeling this won't be the last post about creatures in Uvita.

Remember how I said that Gumerzindo's chickens that are running around in the yard are the luckiest chickens in North America? Well one of them wasn't so lucky. One day Nick and I were on the porch, getting some sunscreen on in preparation to go into town for our first Spanish class. Gumerzindo was on the porch as well, on the other side of the house, mending the screens. Then suddenly we all heard a squaking on the nearby hillside and saw a chicken struggling in the brush. Crying out something in Spanish, Gumerzindo quickly ran around the porch and down the stairs to investigate. He scrambled into the brush just as the chicken was going quiet, and after a minute or two he was able to get the chicken out from under some plants.

Holding his chicken under his arm, he inspected the wings and body for damage and seemed to be satisfied that he was fine (we're never quite sure what he's saying, Nick and I are very much novices at Spanish). He mentioned "perro", and after leaving, Nick pointed down to the river where we saw the little dog looking up at us and shaking himself off. We took a few pictures as best we could from the distance as he trotted off back into the jungle.

As Nick and I were heading into town though, Gumerzindo called out to us from his house and held aloft a motionless chicken by the legs. Looks like the one we saw in the bush made it, but the other one didn't.

We were minding our own business one night, at our computers, having our nightly struggle with the internet, when George abruptly yelped in surprise. A rather large grasshopper had jumped onto his laptop screen, wiggling its giant antennae about and giving him a start. Nick ran over and got the camera and started getting all up close and personal with the large insect, getting some good snaps. Apparently deciding Nick was some sort of mountain that needed to be conquered, the grasshopper jumped onto the side of his hip. "Take a picture!" Nick said as he excitedly thrust the camera into my arms, but unfortunately I was not fast enough to catch what happened next. It rapidly climbed up Nick's side and jumped right onto his cheek, at which point Nick flipped out and instinctively swatted it off his face before it could reach his bald spot, which we could only assume was his goal. George, deciding we had been tormented enough, unceremoniously squashed it and sent it to the trash.

A vertiable flock of these guys visited our lawn. Some sort of buzzard or vulture? Nothing particularly interesting happened with these guys, though they looked rather cool...

But later that afternoon...

Nick and I had finished our work for the day. It was getting dark and we wanted to get into the pool. Our Danish neighbors had been occupying it most of the afternoon and were just leaving, and George was away learning how to surf for the day in Dominical.

So I go to the guest house to change. As I open the door, for the umpteenth time a cute, harmless little gecko scampers out of view. They really seem to like being in and around the houses, or perhaps there are just tons of them in the area; either way we see them on pretty much a daily basis. As I hunch over to look at it hiding under my bed, I think to myself "well I'm glad I don't see as many scorpions here as I see those lizards!" Then I grab my swimtrunks and start to stick my leg in, at which point a thin black scorpion just drops out onto the bathroom floor right in front of me.

As I stand there hunched over, stepping back into the bedroom and cursing in surprise, the little guy scuttles away into the corner and hides behind a piece of wood of the wall, and into my nightmares forever. Later, upon informing Nick and George of the close encounter, we lamented that it had snuck into my trunks, which had been hanging on the wall, which means ABSOLUTELY NOWHERE IS SAFE. So from now on it's going to take me about five times longer than before to get dressed as I very carefully shake out every piece of clothing I've got.

And getting to sleep? Well... that's taking a little while longer as well.