LAND CRAB

Yesterday I was fortunate enough to spot a crab on the road from Café Blue to the studio. It was another of those instances where you just stumble upon something. I find these instances unexpected, interesting and enjoyable. Like most people, I do not usually associate crabs with the rainforest. We tend to think of these creatures as coastal dwellers. But there she was walking along the edge of the road at 3,000+ feet above sea level with the coast an hour away.

I am rather confident that the crab is a female because she was carrying a lot of babies. The babies were mostly hidden on her underside but several were taking a ride on her back. When she stopped several of the babies scattered. I was lucky enough to have been carrying my camera and took a few good shots of the mother and the babies. She was approximately 4 inches wide and the babies were ½ inch wide.

The last time that we saw a land crab at Monte Azul was when we were building the studio in 2006. One night Carlos kept hearing a strange clicking noise. When he went to investigate the noise was a crab that managed to get between the wall and a sheet of plexiglass. It was trying to get out of this situation and kept hitting its front arms on the plexiglass. I guess you just never know when or where you may run into a land crab.

GOATS GALORE!

We are happy to announce that Monte Azul’s herd of goats has moved into their new home. As I have out lined in previous entries, this new goat house has been under construction for months. And like many new homes, the goats moved in before it was completed. There are still a few items that need to be finished but the goats do not seem to mind.

Shortly after the adult goats moved into the new abode, the new baby goats arrived. It has been quite bountiful. Over a week’s time, 12 baby goats were born. The final tally is 9 boys and 3 girls. They are adorable. They are now running and jumping and climbing up on everything, even people. We have imprinted them on humans from the first few hours from birth to ensure that they are friendly and like human interaction.

Our hotel guests have loved visiting, petting and playing with the new arrivals. Our guests have also enjoyed the fresh chevre, feta, mozzarella and yogurt that we make using the bounty of goat’s milk that we now have on hand. Goat camembert is on the works too. I will let you know how it turns out in approximately 2 months.

SLOTH SITING

Today on our early morning walk, we spotted a sloth up in a guarumo tree at the edge of the road. Sloths really like guarumo trees because they produce a delicious tasting fruit – to sloths, that is. People like these trees because their branches and leaves are very open which makes spotting a sloth much easier. High in this tree was a three-toed sloth feasting on the guarumo fruit. She was quite large for a sloth and looked a bit precarious climbing way out on some of the thin outer branches of this tree.

As some of you might remember, earlier this year in March, we released on our property a three-toed sloth that was rescued by our friends at Cloudbridge reserve. This sloth had been rescued from a house in Rivas. I was wondering if this might be the same sloth or if it was the one that Carlos rescued and released in June 2010. Or, maybe it is the one I spotted in May 2008.

We will never know which sloth it is because it is impossible for us to identify them as individuals. We are just happy to see sloths thriving at Monte Azul.

BATH DAY

Today was a bath day for all 6 dogs at Monte Azul: Cookie, Scooter, Paco, Hunter, Cha Cha and Delilah. Needless to say none of them enjoyed it. There were varying degrees of struggling but Cookie won the prize for being the worst participant. This was Cookie’s 1^st bath in the 5 1/2 years that she has been at Monte Azul.

Cookie has always been a bit skittish around water. She hates to get her feet wet and will never get in the creeks or mud puddles. If she sees you pick up a garden hose, she runs in the opposite direction because she knows water comes out of it. She fought me the entire time. I knew that she was going to be a problem so I saved her for last. By the time I was done with Cookie, I was soaked from my neck to my feet.

The work was worth it though. All the dogs are clean and fresh smelling, at least for a day.

KATYDID

The other day when I was walking through Café Blue I spotted what I thought was a small bird on the floor. I went over to investigate and to my surprise it was not a bird but a katydid. This was no ordinary katydid but the largest katydid that I have ever seen. She was approximately 4” long and 1 ½” tall.

She slowing walked across the dining room floor and climbed up one of the dining chairs. When I was taking her photo I watched her watching me. She slowly turned her head to keep an eye on what I was doing as I moved around her. It was easy to see her watching me because she has large yellow eyes.

In Costa Rica, katydids are called Esperanzas which translates to hope. They are considered very good luck. With a katydid this large living at Monte Azul, we should have a lot of good luck coming our way.

OUR FIRST PALM TREE

Five years ago when we first started construction at Monte Azul, one of our first tree planted was a palm tree. It was placed in the parking area in front of the lecheria. Over the years the palm has continued to flourish. This year it has started to fruit. In early June the first large branch of seeds unfolded from the main trunk. Over a period or weeks the seed branch continued to grow and develop.

About a month later another seed branch unfolded with one more unfolding a month after that. Each branch continues to grow. The first seeds are turning red and have started to drop. The seeds quickly took root in the soil below the tree and have become seedlings. We have moved the first of these to the greenhouse and are now cultivating small palm trees.

The palm tree with the seed branches hanging on the trunk are quite beautiful especially at night when they are illuminated. It has been fun to see this process unfold. I have just discovered that the palm tree in front of Casita Amarilla is about to open its first seed branch. It appears that these palm trees are very happy with the weather conditions at Monte Azul.

THE WONDERFUL WORLD OF GUARUMOS

What is a guarumo you might ask? It is a type of tree that is found in tropical zones. It is also known as the Trumpet Tree or scientifically Crecopia. There are 5 species of this tree in Costa Rica. They are all very similar with varying sized leaves, fruits and form of branching.

One of its fascinating traits is that it has a symbiotic relationship with a specific type of ant. These ants live in the hollow parts of the tree and voraciously defend the tree against predators. Walk up to a guarumo and knock on the tree trunk 3-4 times and an army of ants will appears within seconds. Don’t touch the tree because these ants can bite.

The ants also guard the tree against other invasive foliage, a common occurrence in a rain forest. The ants make sure that vines and other plants do not wrap around the tree. I tied a vine around the trunk and the ants immediately attacked it. Voracious biting and eating the piece of vine until it fell off.

The trees are helpful to the forest and other animals too. Guarumos are the first tress to appear in recovering or regenerating forest and can quickly reach their full height or 60-70 feet in just 5-7 years. They have a life span of only 20-30 years during which time they provide the first shade for the slower growing tropical hardwoods. During their short lifetime, they produce a fruit that is enjoyed by a wide variety of birds and mammals. Because of their open growth form, it is not unusual to see sloths, monkeys and birds in these trees.

The leaves of this tree can be quite impressive. Some leaves exceed 3 feet across. They have medicinal purposes and can be used as scouring pads because of their rough durable texture.

The trees on the edges of open areas also have the ability to lean out towards the sunlight. To help stabilize themselves, they send out roots at the base of the trunk to grab the soil and keep them from toppling. From experience, I can attest that this can be a bit dangerous along roads. A few weeks ago, when I was driving one of the “leaning guarumos” broke the passenger side mirror off our car as I was driving. I didn’t realize that the tree was leaning that far out and got a bit too close.

For more information on these trees, check out this website: http://cloudbridge.org/trees/cecropia_polyphlebia.html.