ssssS

 

STATISTICS

Since 2001 I have had the pleasure of making 16 trips to Costa Rica with some very outstanding herpers. All the trips have their memorable times and on a few some very magical moments. I decided to go over the trip records to see what I could learn from the experiences. One question I'm asked a lot is which in the best time to go: May or November? May is the start of the rainy season and November is the end. Or at least it is sometimes. So, the answer may be whether you like to be wet or not. No, I'm just kidding, because there is no answer; you have to be in the right place at the right time and it make no difference if it's May or November. The more time you spend on the road or on the trails, the more snakes you'll find. The chart below shows some interesting facts. Only 6 of our trips have been in November and a few times we had an above average catch. Our average at the moment is 53 snakes per trip. Another factor is the number of Herpers on the trip, 4 or 5 people looking is not the same as 8 or more. So, the results may be different on those trip with lower or high numbers of Herpers. Trips 12, 13 and 14 we did less road crusing, so we have less DOR's we came across 133 snakes and only 25 were DOR's. We also made a trip in July, 2010, which was not the regular time of year we've been going. We had only 4 Herpers and we found below average number of snakes.

 

Trip
Herpers
Date
Live
DOR
Total
1
7
May 1,'01
26
28
54
2
8
Nov 6, '01
19
33
52
3
5
May 14,'02
14
28
42
4
8
Nov 5, '02
48
19
67
5
7
May 6, '03
28
10
38
6
4
Nov 11,'03
13
30
43
7
9
Nov 9, '04
30
17
47
8
8
May 10,'05
32
21
53
9
6
Nov 12,'05
15
12
27
10
8
May 6,'06
67
28
95
11
11
May 12,'07
54
37
91
12
5
Nov 17 '07
30
8
38
13
9
May 3, '08
49
8
57
14
4
May 23,'09
29
9
38
15
4
Jul 10, '10
23
10
33
16
8
May 1, '11
23
3
26
Totals
101
Average 50
500
301
801

 

Total Per Species

 

Species
Common Name
Live
DOR
Total
Boa Constrictor Boa
47
34
81
Bothriechis schlegelli Eyelash Viper
6
1
7
Bothrops asper Fer-de-Lance
68
68
136
Coniophanes fissidens Brown Spotbelly Snake
3
0
3
Conophis lineatus Road Guarder
3
0
3
Corallus annulatus Annulated Boa
0
1
1
Corallus ruschenbergerii Tree Boa
7
3
10
Dendropphidion viniitor Forest Racer
3
0
3
Drymobius margaritiferus Speckled Racer
2
7
9
Enulius flavitorques Thick-tailed Snake
1
0
1
Epicrates c. maurus Rainbow Boa
15
15
30
Imantodos cenahoa Common Blunthead Tree Sn
39
48
87
Imantodos gemnistratus Banded Blunthead Tree Snake
4
4
8
Lampropeltis t. stuati Stuart's Milk Snake
4
7
11
Leptodeira annulata Common Cat-eye Snake
3
4
7
Leptodeira rubricata Mangrove Cat-eye Snake
1
0
1
Leptodeira septentrionnalis Northern Cat-eye Snake
115
42
157
Leptodrymus pulcherrimus Streak Snake
0
1
1
Leptophis ahaetulla Giant Parrot Snake
6
1
7
Leptophis mexicanus Mexican Parrot Snake
4
1
5
Masticophis mentovarius Neotropical Coachwhip
1
0
1
Mastigodryas malanolomus Neotropical Racer
4
0
4
Micrurus mioatitus Banded Coral Snake
1
0
1
Micrurus nigrocinctus Central American Coral Snake
3
2
5
Ninia maculata Banded Coffee Snake
1
0
1
Oxybelis aeneus Brown Vine Snake
9
2
11
Oxybelis fulgidus Green Vine Snake
3
5
8
Oxyrhopus petola Banded Calico Snake
5
5
10
Pelamis platurus Yellow-bellied Sea Snake
86
0
86
Pseustes poecilonotus Northern Bird Snake
4
1
5
Sibon anthracops Ringed Snail-eater
4
3
7
Sibon nebulatus Common Snail-eater
31
25
56
Siplohis compressus Red-eyed Tree Snake
1
0
1
Spilotes pullatus Spitotes
4
1
5
Stenorrhina degenhardtii Scorpion-eater
1
0
1
Stenorrhina freminvillii Scorpion-eater
2
3
5
Tanilla armillata Blackneck Crown Snake
1
1
2
Trimorphodon biscatatus Lyre Snake
1
0
1
Ungaliophis panamensis Bromeliad Boa
1
0
1
   
Un-Identified Snakes  
4
15
19
   
   
   
  Average per trip 50 Snakes
500
301
801

 

 

Last Updated June 26, 2011

Website created and maintained by:

Jim Kavney