Yesterday, I noticed that the Rufous-tailed Hummingbirds were going a little crazier than usual in the tamarind tree. Now, they are always pretty crazy; zooming around and chattering in rage as they chase each other off favorite perches and away from the feeders we have nearby, but this activity was particularly focused on a single branch of the tamarind and not at each other. What was going on?
This was going on:
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| A baby boa constrictor curled up on on a branch. |
The Rufous-tails were harassing the boa just like songbirds harass raptors and snakes. The boa just hunkered down and endured the onslaught.
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| Curled up into a tight knot to present a smaller target. |
Later, it moved a little higher into the tree and stretched out on a slender branch at just the right height for me to photograph it from the sunset balcony; much easier than the first photos I took from the veranda with the camera stretched overhead while I balanced on a step stool.
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| Its head is no bigger than the end of my thumb and the full length is probably 20-24 inches. |
It stayed in that location for the remainder of the day, catching the sun, and was still there when we went to bed last night.
This morning dawned cool and rainy with far distant thunder rumbling like the stomach of a hungry god. Low clouds and waves of torrential rain isolate us from the madness of the world; I revel in days like this. But what about that little boa? Did it find shelter? I fully expected it to have made its way onto the sunset balcony and perhaps from there into our loft. But no, it was right where it had been the night before, still on the same small branch.
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| On the same branch, only a little wet. |
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| Look how the markings continue through its eye with the bottom half darker that the top half. |
It stuck its tongue out at me, as snakes do, but seemed content to remain stretched out on the branch.
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| A closer look at the eye markings. |
The hummingbirds, to their possible future undoing, are ignoring the boa today. Staying still and aligned with the branch may be the boa's strategy for catching an unwary meal. After all, hummingbirds are just the right size for a baby boa's breakfast.
