NEO FAUNA SNAKES

Our guide, Josymar, knows about snakes.  In fact, he is one of the leading experts in the area.  While giving us the tour, he was called on the phone to come help identify a snake that had bitten someone.  He could not leave so they emailed him a picture of the snake for him to identify.
He told us that if a snake is shiny it is not poisonous.  But, if looks dull it is definitely poisonous--the only exception is the Coral snake. Of the 139 species of snakes in Costa Rica, 22 are poisonous.  

He had quite an array of snakes to show us.  He goes out at night and catches these snakes.

Non-Poisonous Shiny Snake

As you can see, this snake is not poisonous because it is shiny. Snakes can barely see or hear and use their tongue to detect heat from their prey.  This snake uses the black portion at the end of it's tail while in a tree to look like a worm.  When a bird comes to get the worm, the snake gets the bird.  
Gail boldly got close--within ten or twelve feet.

Gail and the snake

Josymar then told us that although non poisonous, this snake has a very painful bite because its fangs are hook shaped and he hangs on when he bites and tears the skin.

Hooked shaped fangs

There were quite a number of poisonous snakes as well.  This somewhat small snake can kill a cow in about thirty minutes.

Very Lethal

This is a colorful green tree snake.

Green Tree Snake

It is very difficult to see but is quite colorful.

Colorful Green Tree Snake

There was a very large snake in a glass cage.  Josymar walked by the cage and opened the door.  He continued on and began talking about something else.  I decided to look in the open door and take a picture of this snake.  As I walked by the front of the cage towards the open door, all of a sudden there was a loud "BOOM".  The snaked had struck at me and hit the glass partition of the cage.  It sounded like someone had thrown a baseball against the cage and it surprised the heck out of me  (I could use a different phrase here).

Surprise, surprise

It was a Boa Constrictor.  
I am not sure why he left the door open but I decided, from that point on, to stay a little closer to Josymar.