On the grounds at the Canopy Tower in Panama a pair of red rumped Caciques built a nest.
This is a Lemon Rumped Cacique. The Red Rumped Caciques look the same but with a red rump.
Someone spotted a good sized (4 foot) Neotropical Bird snake in a bush near the nest.
Those hanging things are the nests.
It was hunting. I do know how to id all of the local poisonous snakes and it wasn't one of them. A communal decision was made to try to save the nestling Caciques. I grabbed a stick and positioned myself on the raised deck to catch said snake. It would have to go along the railing to get to the nest and that would give me a good chance to pin the head (with the stick) and safely pick up the snake which could then be relocated down the hill.
One of the, um, more mature gentleman who suffers from "I've-watched-Crocodile-Hunter-I-know-what-to-do" syndrome combined with testosterone poisoning (if a blond woman is willing to grab the snake I better get in her way and grab it first) got in my way. He grabbed the snake in the middle. He didn't pin the head first or grab near the head.
Guess what. The snake bit him.
Then it was too riled up for me to catch safely so we had to harass it out of the bush and away. That was much more stressful for all involved (except for the Steve Irwin wanna be) than if he had stayed back and let me handle it. I have caught plenty of snakes and only been bitten once to my memory.
[why no pictures of the snake? Ask The Husband who was holding the camera while I attempted to catch the snake. I guess I should have taken some pictures first.]
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