It is hard to believe that we have already been in Costa Rica for 4 months. We moved into our new funky home the beginning of August. From the outside, it feels like a scene out of the TV show, Lost, as the portico/main door surrounded by concrete walls looks to be a portal to an underground secret compound.
From the inside, we are living in the cloud forest surrounded by trees, birds and their various calls to each other, sounds of the babbling river below, and a spectacular view of the Pacific Ocean (that depends on the day and the cloud coverage). With the many windows throughout the house, it is a great space to drink in the forest and enjoy visits from monkeys, agutis, geckos, coatis, etc.
When we arrived in Costa Rica in July, Milo remarked that the animals and insects are much more free here. This realization has prompted him to stop eating meat – which is a good thing for the planet, and a little less ideal for me as he has always been my partner in eating all things meat.
I have been pondering this notion that animals and insects have more freedom in Costa Rica, and living in the cloud forest, Milo often says, “we humans are the intruders!” I have to concur with him, and I want to share some ways that we are attempting to co-exist with the critters.
CATCH and RELEASE: Our first day, we learned the catch and release approach to rescuing moths, gem beetles, morpho butterflies, leaf bugs and others when they venture indoors. The idea is to place a cup over the critter, slide paper over the top of the cup, and then remove the paper from the cup once you are outside to set the bugs free. The first couple of weeks, instead of asking for screen time, the kids were actually vying for who could be in charge of the rescue cup. They sometimes spend large chunks of time in the evening liberating our critter friends.
Last week, Zac and I rescued this hummingbird on our patio with sugar water, a technique we learned from Costa Ricans.
RESCUING SCORPIONS: Up until living in the cloud forest, it never crossed my mind that we would actually want to save a scorpion with their reputation in the league of scary, vicious, more dangerous critters. Well a friend, suggested if we see one, we should capture it in a jar, seal it, and walk it across the forest to the other side of the street. I wish I had a picture of our first scorpion because she was huge. And Milo volunteered to escort the scorpion in the dark with his headlamp to the other side of the street. He was even a little concerned that we were taking a mama scorpion away from her scorpion children but we weighed the options – killing it, ignoring it with the possibility of getting stung, and relocating it – with the latter rising up as the best case scenario.
CHECK ALL SHOES for SPIDERS, SCORPIONS, and SNAKES, OH MY: Last month, we found a snake in Zac’s rain boot. Finding the boa definitely evoked some nervous energy around the house. First, the gardener took its life out of fear that it was poisonous. I showed pictures of the snake to folks at the Institute (where I work) who identified her to be a dwarf boa and not venomous! It was a bit awkward to show them a picture of a dead snake as they were a bit dismayed to see that she was no longer alive when all living beings are valued here, even snakes. Since then, we try to be extra vigilant about checking and shaking our shoes for potential forest friends.
HORMIGAS (ANTS)…SUGAR ANTS, LEAF CUTTER ANTS, ARMY ANTS: So the story on ants definitely warrants its own blog post as I am trying to appreciate their sociological lessons but for the purposes of now, I am a bit embarrassed to admit that thus far, the tiny sugar ants have been my arch-nemesis. I don’t mind the scorpions, spiders, shrimp bugs that jump around on our carpet in the evening, or the vast community of moths that we live with but the ants…… From a sociological perspective, I observe their highly developed systems and practices as they are diligent workers that can scout the slightest morsel of food (often the sweet and savory food that we value most) and then mobilize countless tiny peers to infiltrate and transport the food to their colonies. As a result of their sophisticated social systems, I spend a good amount of time in the kitchen with my disinfectiva spritzer (i.e. vinegar) combating ants. I am hoping over time I will find ways to accept, embrace, and co-exist with them as they are a great metaphor for the many things that we sometimes think we need to banish when maybe they can be instructive models for considering and beginning to value the social systems of critters and other living beings. I never knew that part of this year would be about gaining more perspective about how humans can more be open to all living things (including ants!) even when they are trying to infiltrate your beloved potato chips!