I am planning to do a lot of hiking and bird watching while in Costa Rica. I love nature and am not generally afraid of insects, snakes, etc., but I am not familiar with the Costa Rican species' and want to know what to watch out for, to avoid being bitten by something poisonous or otherwise harmful. <BR> <BR>Does anyone know of a good resource for this information, or can you tell me what to watch out for? Are the poisonous snakes often seen or in hiding?Poisonous insects? Bats and other animals with rabies? Malaria from mosquitos? Leeches in water? Poisonous plants?Are any of these a concern or are they all quite rare? <BR> <BR>I like to jump in and get my hands dirty but I don't want to do that and end up with some horrible malady that ruins the trip! <BR> <BR>Thanks in advance for your advice, <BR>Joni <BR>

Hmm. I have not received any replies to this original message. Does that mean I shouldn't worry; that dangerous critters are quite rare? <BR> <BR>Thanks for any of your thoughts, <BR>Joni <BR> <BR>

Suggest you use my favorie search engine: Google. <BR> <BR>1. www.google.com <BR>2. type in search phrase: poisonous costa rica <BR> <BR>You'll get websites where poisonous appears.

Maybe you should try www.lonelyplanet.com, they seem to have a large adventure oriented crowd there, you probably would be able to get alot more responses to your post. Good luck.

Hi, There are a lot of things you could be afraid of in Costa Rica, but you are right, most of them stay pretty well out of your way and I never saw on snake the whole time we were there. I saw lotsof spiders (and I am the typical arachniphobe!) but nothing bothered me more than the sand fleas and misquitos. Besides itching, nothing to be concerned about, Costa rica is low on the malaria danger scale and I have never heard of anyone contracting it there. <BR> <BR>The worse thing I heard about was some drunk german that went swimming in a known croc hangout and was attacked. This could have been a rumor, too...I don't know. The children in Costa Rica often swim in the rivers were crocs are located. Our guide said that their natural habitat is well in tact and that they usually only attack if they are extremely hungry because their typical fare is not available. I actually went hiking one day in clogs...probably not too smart but I had no problems. I would suggest hiking boots if going off the main trails...there are many poisonous snakes. But, most people that get bit are farmers and land workers, not tourists. Do hire a guide when you go hiking, not just because he can show you the way, but he can fill you in on the wildlife there. Its really an amazing country! <BR> <BR>If snorkeling, beware of jellyfish, but this is a common concern anywhere in the ocean. <BR> <BR>I know you have heard this before, but, all these dangers are much more afraid of you, and will try their hardest to get out of your way. <BR> <BR>I don't remember every hearing of poisonous plants or leeches, but that doesn't mean CR doesn't have them. Just ask the locals! <BR> <BR>Have fun! It is great in the rain forest!

Beware of mosquito bites that don't seem to heal. The bite will have a red spot in the middle. Mosquitos sometimes carry Bott fly larvae and will inject it into you when they bite. The larvae will grow under your skin which creates a painful lump. Best to catch it early. If you have a suspicious mosquito bite, have it checked out by a local doctor.

Hi Joni, <BR>A tourist has never been killed by a poisonous snake in CR of which there are 17 species. Go to the Serpentarium on Ave 3 in SJ for a good show. We have seen only one poisonous snake in six long visits. <BR> <BR>Do not put your hand or foot where you cannot see. Do not sniff rain forest flowers (eye lash viper). Avoid sugar cane fields and long grass, especially in Guanacaste. <BR>Enjoy. David <BR> <BR>The biggest nuisance are the sand feas which are not repelled by chemicals. They frequent the dry beach sand. Some beachs have dangerous undertows.

This advice almost qualifies as a "Well, duh", but here it is. Don't get too friendly with wild animals the locals keep as pets. When I was there (10 years ago), a travel companion allowed a pet monkey to sit on her shoulder for a picture. He then climbed her head and grabbed her hair and ears so hard she cried. He had to be coaxed down with some bananas. Really!

In Manuel Antonio National Park, we saw 2 boa constrictors (not poisonous), and one green eyelash viper (extremely poisonous). However, they were well camouflaged. The boas were in the trees overhead and we would not even have seen them without our guide pointing them out. The eyelash viper was in a bush next to a path we were walking on, and my boyfriend saw it and asked the guide what it was (it was pretty and small), and the guide said that it was one of the most poisonous snakes in this hemisphere, and that the venom is so potent that if you get bitten, there is nothing they can do for you. Of course, the snake was not moving or looking to strike us, it was just hanging out waiting for prey and would only strike if threatened. <BR> <BR>We also saw a tarantula in Osa, but again, we would never have seen it if our guide hadn't pointed it out. <BR> <BR>There are LOTS of varieties of ants in CR and some of them do hurt when they bite, but most don't. <BR> <BR>The monkeys in Manuel Antonio, particularly the capuchin (white-faced) can be a nuisance because they have become too tame because idiot tourists feed them. I would not say they are dangerous, but keep a respectful distance. They are not pets, they are wild animals, and can be unpredictable. <BR> <BR>There is a website I saw that talks about a lot of this stuff. I will try to find it again and post it here.

We just returned this weekend from our honeymoon in Costa Rica. I was a little scared of snakes since we had some interesting hiking experiences, but we didn't see any. That doesn't mean they didn't see us! <BR> <BR>We saw poisonous dart frogs and a tarantula in the Osa Peninsula, our hiking guide that day said not to get too close to those. <BR> <BR>Cynthia