Terciopelo (Fer-de-lance) catch

I’ll get to a full post soon on last week’s second Costa Rica trip of the year (82 snakes/18 species), but had to give this big Terciopelo its own post - the most exciting catch of my life. Last trip we got one baby Fer-de-lance. This trip we got four - 2 babies, a medium sized adult, and then this bad boy. They can really frick you up with major tissue necrosis and are responsible for more deaths in South & Central America than any other reptile.

On night 5 of a 7 night trip, we hit some new territory and stopped in a river crossing. It was just my Florida buddy & I on this night, and he shined upriver from his window and noticed something swimming in the river, thinking it was just some type of animal.



As we got out to investigate, he yelled “Snake!”

We ran upriver and saw that it was a big Terciopelo now making its way up the river bank.



Luckily I had brought a small pencil-thin collapsible snake hook on the trip and made the catch, transferring it to a little sandy area along the opposite bank.









Henceforth, hijinx & frivolity ensued.







The excitement of running up a river in Costa Rica to catch a big Fer-de-lance is just hard to match. Such a menacingly impressive snake!