#45 - TALES FROM THE FIELD #9

Yesterday's blog entry contained many words. It was a revealing glimpse into my life and career. In this installment we return to Babunhol on the shores of the Suriname River. Rather than using many words I want to share many photos, each one accompanied by an extended caption that tells the story of the many amazing animals we found right on the resort property and in the forests that surrounded it. We worked other areas from this base camp, including Brownsberg Natuurpark, but all of the photos in this blog were taken within walking distance of our Pitiko House at New Babunhol River Resort.

My friend Jason recently asked me if I took notes on my adventures. Of course I do. Each evening all of us record the day's events in our log books. Andrew sits with pen and paper and pipe, and Paul jots in a notebook. Guy and I tap our notes into our iPads - me with a cold beer and cigar. It is an after dinner ritual that preserves the stories our field trips. I could consult my Suriname 2014 Notes to provide a chronological telling of the expedition. However, my stories jump about in time to highlight different species strictly from my memory. I don't want to regurgitate my field notes. I also want to jump from trip to trip on a whim, taking you to new places before finishing all the stories of one. In TFTF #10 we will return to Sri Lanka and our hunt for my favorite theraphosid spider - Poecilotheria subfusca.

All images contained herein are © Michael Jacobi, Guy Tanley, Paul Carpenter & Andrew Smith
except those designated as © Michael Jacobi.

Andrew recorded our events and data in two notebooks throughout the day. Here he sits with his morning coffee and a bowl of tobacco memorializing all of our activities for future use. You'll also notice a map off to one side where we would plan our journeys away from the base camp of Babunhol.

This was his normal seat at our Pitiko table and in the evening the coffee would be replaced with Borgoe Rum and, perhaps, a cold Parbo Bier.

Bats were literally everywhere in Suriname. Even at our suburban first base camp at Oxygen resort nightfall would bring small bats racing about outside of our rooms.

At Babunhol many tree holes contained what we began to call "ginger bats", using the Brit term for redheads. There were a number of species that shared our resort. The "ginger bat" at left is hanging off of our laundry, which we hand washed and hung to dry each morning.

Ephebopus murinus was the primary member of the genus that we found abundant in Suriname. The image at right shows Ephebopus rufescens.

Ephebopus is an avicularine genus and young are arboreal or semi-arboreal, particularly in the French Guiana species E. cyanognathus. We found that roadside embankments or low brush would contain juveniles in burrows, while the adult females lived in deep burrows in the jungle floor that had turreted entrances made of silk and leaf litter.

The silk shrouded turreted burrow of an adult female Ephebopus murinus. We found many of these at Babunhol. They often were difficult to see at first, but at the right angle the silk would catch the sunlight and the prominent cluster of leaves rising from the forest floor would reveal the spider's lair.

Ephebopus murinus has always been a personal favorite and it has often been fairly common in the hobby. I've seen thousands in captivity, but seeing one in situ is a remarkable and very memorable experience.

This image better illustrates the burrow of the "skeleton tarantula" and how it incorporates leaves and sticks into a camouflaged retreat.

The shelter rises from the forest floor in a protective funnel that is called a turret.

This type of retreat is a radical departure from the way most adults of the family Aviculariinae live.

The spider itself is a strikingly beautiful dark color with light stripes on its name that gave rise to the popular name "skeleton".

Ephebopus murinus sits at the mouth of her turreted burrow at night.  © Michael Jacobi

Ephebopus murinus in situ at Babuhol  © Michael Jacobi

One of the most amazing finds of our trip was found by Paul in a tree right on Babunhol's grounds. Prior to this discovery, Tapinauchenius gigas was only known from French Guiana.

We had found Tapinauchenius plumipes outside of Paramaribo and would also find it at Babunhol, but it was quite a surprise when Paul found this orange beauty in a tree hole. Paul is a remarkable spider hunter and manages to shine his torch into holes others might miss. In fact, this beautiful orange tree spider was in a crevice above his height and maybe even mine. I tickled her out of her hole only after Guy had gone back to camp to borrow a rusty old ladder from one of Babunhol's sheds. As I chased her out onto the tree trunk she was captured in an empty Pringles can. After a lengthy photo shoot we directed her back into the retreat where we found her.

Frogs were abundant at Babuhol and they are one of my favorite photographic subjects. The resort's groundskeeper Errol would find some for me while he tended to both the ornamental flowers in pots around the site and in the bush itself. Our Pitiko House came alive with tree frogs at night as well.

Hypsiboas multifasciatus found at the forest's edge at Babunhol   © Michael Jacobi

Dendropsophus marmoratus that Errol found in one of his decorative potted plants  © Michael Jacobi

Scinax ruber was the common tree frog that we would find in our kitchen at night,
as well as in the showers and toilets and other buildings.  © Michael Jacobi

This Dendrophidion dendrophus (tawny forest racer) was spotted on one of our
night hikes into the bush that surrounded Babunhol. It was perched about four feet above the ground.
© Michael Jacobi

One of many Tapinauchenius plumipes observed at Babunhol  © Michael Jacobi

This dwarf brown tarantula found at Babunhol is possibly a Neostenotarsus sp.
© Michael Jacobi

You may have seen this image of me and a labaria on my website.
This Bothrops atrox, a fiesty and highly venomous pit viper, was found right on the beach at Babunhol.
When we told the owners of this during our return debriefing after our stay I could see horror on their faces.
The following images shows where I found it coiled in the buttress of a riverside tree.
Guy had just stood there investigating tree holes for tarantulas.
He was fortunate that he didn't get close enough to rile up the speedy striker.
© Guy Tansley

Here is the same labaria or fer-de-lance as I found it coiled at the base of the tree.
© Michael Jacobi

Also being a reptile guy, finding the several labarias I encountered during the trip as well as the big Spilotes sulphureus I wrangled at Brownsberg certainly made for lifetime memories. In future blog entries I may mention other Surinamese reptiles I found including green iguanas, Plica sp. lizards, huge golden tegus and more. However, there was one reptile that was at the top of my list to see in nature and get an opportunity to photograph. It was a large anolid lizard that many call the monkey anole. I had kept my eyes peeled for one, but had no luck. On our last morning at Babunhol, as we were packing our gear and loading our car, the groundskeeper Errol came over to me and said there was a lizard along the forest trail just behind their service building. I grabbed my Nikon and chased after him. There it was, perched on a giant palm leaf, Polychrus marmoratus, a bucket list reptile.

Polychrus marmoratus  © Michael Jacobi

Me and the Polychrus marmoratus that was at the top of my bucket list!
Notice how the stress of capture and removing it from its palm frond has turned it brown.
© Guy Tansley

Cheers, MJ