Day 23 – Back to visit with Flower

Olivia was dying to go visit Flower, the pizote, at Rainsong Sanctuary. So, we made our way to go see how the little guy was doing this morning. We figured today would be another great day to try and discover some cool animals. We decided on seeing how many different insects and butterflies we could find. The chore was not too hard. Before heading out of our gate we had already seen one unique spider with two spikes protruding out of its back end. It is called a Micrathena Sagittata. It took quite a while to find this guy online actually. It is a species native only to Costa Rica.

As we walked along the road to the sanctuary we saw many different colored butterflies and several more different spiders. Unfortunately, either the butterflies would not stay still long enough for me to take a picture of or the specimens were too small to get a good shot off. It truly amazing the amount of biodiversity that this country has to offer. Costa Rica is home to over 35,000 species of insects, of which three thousand are butterflies.

Rainsong was a hit again with the kids. They got to interact with all kinds of animals. I would say the biggest thrill was that Olivia got to hold Milagro for about 25 minutes. Milagro is a male howler that is being rehabilitated there. Thomas and Anna went into one of the cage with two of the resident female howler monkeys, Mona and Franny. Needless to say, Thomas and Anna became jungle gym equipment. Franny, the youngest of the two really took a liking to Anna’s head. I think it wanted to groom her.

Trying to research this guy. Will post the species once I know something.

We also got to see some new porcepines and possums that just arrived the other day at the sanctuary. Finally, Jen took us over to see Flower, the pizote. Flower had grown some since we last visited. He was definitely doing a lot better and full of energy today. The kids were able to play with Flower for about 10 -15 minutes. Rainsong has been a great place for the kids to up and personal with quite a few animals. It has been a good learning experience for them. 

Weird looking bug when in flight. Couldn't get a picture of him flying though.

Don't want to run into that net. The web is actually yellow. Never seen that before.

Not sure of the species, thought at first it may be some kind of hibiscus but Anna and I now think not.

I think she would take this guy home if allowed. Milagro took right to her.

Was lucky to capture a picture during one of his curiosity spells.

Shot beneath a massive coconut tree. Just looked really cool at the time of the photo.

Meet Anna - "The Squirrel Whisperer"