While I was riding in Jon’s vehicle yeterday, he shared a story as we passed a place with an agricultural field on the left side of the road and an escuela (school) on the right.
He said he and Francisco were passing the same place one time when they saw a seriously deadly fer de lance that was about six feet long cross the road in front of them. It came from the field to the left to a place where students often sit to rest and chat at the school on the right.
The terciopelo — aka the fer de lance — is one one of CR’s (and the world’s) most venonous snakes; the other velvet snake here is harmless — see wikipedia page here for more info and photos on the type of snake they saw.
Realizing they needed to do something, but not really knowing what to do, they decided to stop the car and notify the local departmento de bomberos (fire department).
In what felt to them like a lightning fast response — just minutes — a team arrived, ready to collect the serpent in a big drum using a catch pole so they could safely relocate it to a more remote area farther away from civilization.
Isn’t that something? It may sound insane to some, but here in Costa Rica, the culture respects and protects its native flora and fauna. It doesn’t consider snakes, crocodiles and other potentially dangerous creatures to be lackadasically expendable. Instead, it works to maintain an environmental equilibrium between human and wild creature/environmental needs.
I think it’s extraordinary, so I asked Jon’s permission to recount it to you.
And now you know who to call here in Costa Rica if you see something you don’t want to see again in your back yard, school, or elsewhere that you inhabit frequently.
Call the fire department!!
They rescue every creature that needs a little help staying away from people.
P.S. I want to point out something crucial to remember from the above wikipedia page: “Like all venomous snakes, the terciopelo actively avoids contact with humans and larger animals, with bites generally only occurring when the snake is cornered, pursued, or threatened.”
They aren’t proactively lurking in the bushes or under a setee just waiting to ambush anyone. Interactions are rare because they don’t want to be near you any more than you want to be near them.
Tranquilo!