1.
by Linnaeus in 1758, the species name, caninus,
apparently derived from the ‘dog-like’ shape of the
head and snout. The Emerald Tree Boa also
possesses elongated front teeth that are proportion-
ately the largest of any non-venomous snake.
Eventually, we can venture no further on the
swampy trail, and Buddy ushers us back to Ayonto
Hororo Eco-lodge just as it begins to drizzle. With
constant precipitation during the rainy months,
whether it is a fine mist or a monsoon, this is not the
ideal season for encountering much herpetofauna.
Most of the frogs and lizards are hunkered down
under palm fronds, while many of the snakes are
camouflaged up in the treetops, waiting out the
early morning and afternoon downpours.
After the rains subside, the blistering heat of midday
sets in.
“You want to see the snake now?” Damon has a
beautifully-patterned Red-tailed Boa (Boa
constrictor) wrapped around his arm; tongue flick-
ing, eyelids half-closed. “Buddy caught him out on
the savanna a couple of days before you
arrived.”
Gustavo and I take the opportunity to admire
the snake, which Damon then curls around
the branches of a small tree. The boa imme-
diately goes to ground, heading towards the
tawny grasses which splay out from the
eco-lodge, and then towards the hostel’s
resident rooster. Apparently, the snake is
not hungry, as it abruptly changes direction,
away from the hapless bird.
Behind the hostel, in a fenced area of low-
growing Papaya bushes, a dozen or so Red-
and Yellow-footed Tortoises (Chelonoidis
carbonarius and C. denticulatus respec-
tively) lead their typically slow-paced life. I
am curious and ask Damon, “What made
you develop an interest in reptiles?”
“I became an autodidact herpetoculturalist
from my first pet - a tortoise called
Josephine - that I owned from the age of
nine. Over the years, I became the owner of
dozens of other species of reptiles and
amphibians. I stopped counting at 50
species.” Our host hands me one of the Red
-footed Tortoises - I can fully understand his