Collared Treerunners (Plica plica) are one of the larger arboreal lizards seen occasionally hiking in Peru. At night they sleep in trees, mostly high and out of sight. But sometimes they are in the understory and can be photographed.
A common and beautiful sight on night time walks in the Amazon, the Crowned False Boa. These are relatively small, usually around two feet in length, and aren’t biters. They eat lizards and other snakes, and the occasional frog, rodent, and bird. Usually when they’re seen, it’s moving through leaf litter on the ground as a flash of red half in and out of debris.
My favorite crocodilian, the Smooth-Fronted Caiman. These little guys live in smaller streams and hills in the rainforest, and have a lot of attitude for such a little guy. This one had no trouble at all letting my camera lens know who’s boss when it got a little too close. Got the shot first, though 🙂
One of the many forms of the Rhinella margaritifera complex sharing a spot above ground with a cluster of tiger beetles. Life on the ground in the Amazon can be a dangerous place, so it’s not uncommon to find animals spending time on leaves. In this case, the toad may be both trying to stay safe, or being that danger to the beetles.
I’ve seen tiger beetles cluster like this on leaves, which looks quite a bit from above like the typical holes in large leaves like this chewed by other insects. If it weren’t for the toad, I’d have passed by without a second glance.
Common Whipsnake, Chironius exoletus. Peru, 2020
Spotted Anole, spotted in Peru a couple of years ago. Females of this species (and many Anoles) lay only a single egg at a time, which is helpful if you’re a small lizard.
Oliveira, J. A., & Moraes, L. J. C. L. (2021). Mating behavior of Anolis punctatus in the Brazilian Amazonia. Phyllomedusa: Journal of Herpetology, 20(1), 115–119
An Amazon Tree Boa, spotted by flashlight on a boat in Peru. Unlike most snakes, their eyes shine orange-red in the light, and can be seen even high in trees. Birds and amphibians’ eyes also glow a similar color, though, so there are a lot of false calls of “snake!”.
