Scorpions, Snakes and Biting Ants

Scorpions, Snakes and Biting Ants
(Two Stories About Keeping Cool Under Pressure – Sort of)

Definition of terms:

Trumpet Tree: Cecropia peltata. The local name, Trumpet Tree, comes from a tradition of the ancient Maya, who used the stems to make ceremonial trumpets. This tree has a symbiotic relationship with a species of ant, Azteca sp. which lives in the hollow chambers of the tree trunk. The ants are aggressive and will come out and bite anything that touches the tree inflicting painful stings.

Scorpion: A scorpion is an invertebrate animal with eight legs, belonging to the order Scorpiones in the class Arachnida. All scorpion species possess venom. In general, scorpion venom is described as neurotoxic in nature.

Fer-de-lance: One of the largest and deadliest of the poisonous snakes. It is a common Central American snake. This species is irritable, fast-moving and agile. It also has a reputation for being aggressive. The baby snakes have fully formed fangs and venom.

Bolas (from Spanish bola, "ball", also known as boleadoras) are a throwing weapon made of weights on the ends of interconnected cords, designed to capture animals by entangling their legs. They are most famously used by the South American gauchos.


First Story:
Occasionally (probably due to some random hormonal imbalance) I have the urge to go do something "manly" in the jungle. Today I decided to grab a machete and go out to an area of the trail that I knew was blocked by a fallen tree. (When we get a strong rain or windstorm, a few trees or branches always come down.) I arrived at the site, surveyed the situation and started hacking away. A machete is an amazing tool; it can trim a hedge or cut a log. On my first whack I cut into the core of the tree, revealing a surprising number of ants. It was a trumpet tree, and even though it was on our property, the ants looked at me like they thought it was their tree. I continued to cut it, but stepped back a bit, and avoided touching it with anything except the machete, just to be safe. Meanwhile I heard the sound of a howler monkey. Not a real howler monkey, just the sound, which was really a pretty poor imitation being done by Mateo as a joke. He soon showed up (with his machete) and started to help me clear the trail.


The following occurred in quick succession: First I discovered that I apparently hadn't stepped back far enough. Ants were biting my armpits. Second, Mateo said "Give me a machete quick". He had seen a Fer-de-lance and for some reason was unarmed. I found that due to the "armpit" ants, "small of the back" ants, and the "up my pant leg" ants, I could not gracefully move in his direction. I tried, stumbled into some crazy man-eating thorn-vine which stabbed my hand, and then I clumsily handed over my machete. Mateo used it to quickly kill the small snake. We brought it home, showed it off to the folks back at Jaguar Creek, and made the photo above.

Second Story:
Note: For those of you thinking about coming to Jaguar Creek, this incident did not occur in a "public area". We were in an "employee only" location, next to the workshop.

I don't know why, but the best internet connection we have is in the "Satellite Room", a very small room next to the dish which contains a computer on a small desk. It is the only place where the bandwidth is sufficient for video streams (and even then it requires a lot of patience). I also don't know why two people trying to survive in the jungle would have the slightest interest in looking at a TV show about other people trying to survive in the jungle, but we do like Survivor-Fiji. CBS, bless their hearts, lets us watch the episodes for free, online. Actually, it’s a little romantic, just the two of us in a cozy little room, watching the computer screen. We were sitting side by side, and I had the mouse in my hand so I could turn down the volume during the commercials (you know how that is).

The following occurred in quick succession: First something fell from the ceiling, hit Adrienne on the back and then landed on the seat of her chair. Adrienne thought: "It's a stick....no wait; sticks don't fall from the ceiling, scorpions do!” At that point she moved very quickly, so fast that she kicked the wire which was connected to the mouse. Now, you'll need either some knowledge of physics, or an understanding of how the Bola works. Needless to say, the mouse became a Bola, wrapping its cord securely around Adrienne's legs. Meanwhile, the Scorpion, equally frightened (after all, it didn't mean to fall from the ceiling) was running around under Adrienne as she frantically tried to escape the Bola-mouse. Ultimately, I was able to step on the scorpion, and Adrienne got free of the mouse. We picked up the scorpion, showed everybody and made the photo above. It was about 4.5 inches; even the local guys said it was a huge one.

Post Script: Earlier that day, I had been stacking some wood when I saw, and smashed, a small (2 inch) scorpion. When I told Adrienne about it, she was kind of disappointed that she didn't get to see it. "I'd kind of like to see one sometime" she said. Be careful what you wish for! :>)

What would you give up?

What would you give up for your religion?
At one end of the spectrum are people who believe in God, but don't do anything about it. A close second might be those people who give up a little time to attend church on Sunday, but don't let that affect the rest of their week. For your beliefs would you give up TV, or your car? How about just not using electricity at all? Old Order Mennonites do exactly that. Denying themselves many of the things that most people consider essential is part of their spiritual discipline.

We had the pleasure of visiting the Mennonite community of Springfield a few weeks ago. We went their partly out of curiosity and partly because we wanted to see what kind of fruit trees they had for sale. As we drove down the six mile dirt road from Hummingbird highway toward Springfield our first encounter was with a family in their horse drawn buggy on their way out. Since the road was narrow, we pulled over and stopped. They stopped too for a few minutes to chat. They were very friendly but the father did all the talking; we talked about where we were going, and where they were going. The couple had 5 children who all appeared to be under the age of 6! I wish I could show you a photo; the blond haired, blue eyed children were beautiful (and rare in Central America!) but we knew that many Mennonites prefer not to be photographed.


Springfield is a settlement of about 200 people. They all have large ranches that look like they could be in the US Midwest ---- except for the palm trees.
But what impressed us the most was the sawmill.




It is completely powered by horses. Eight horses walk in a circular pattern attached to a large hub that powers a system of belts and pulleys. This not only drives the large band saw, but also feeds the lumber through the saw and runs another small belt that carries away the sawdust.



Some of the logs were more than two feet in diameter. They were surprisingly fast at cutting them up into boards. All the planks were cut "by eye" but appeared to be very consistent in thicknesses. Who needs electricity?

To get them to the mill they use a horse drawn cart, but at the sawmill they drag the logs into place using a couple of oxen. Clever me - I noticed that the man driving the oxen gave commands in German. For example, he'd say "Erstle" and the pair would obediently turn to the right. I impressed Adrienne and our friends by telling them about my observation; then I casually mentioned it to the sawmill operator, so he too would know how smart I was. He said, "What do you mean he is talking German? Erstle is the name of the ox on the right." As it turns out, whichever name he calls, the oxen turn in that direction! After marveling at the sawmill for a half hour or so, we headed to the local nursery.


As it turned out, the "nursery" was just a small greenhouse that a man built in front of his ranch. When we arrived he was steering a plow that was being pulled by a horse ridden by his son. We were impressed with how friendly the man was. I think he would have stood there for two hours talking to us, if we wanted to. (Or maybe he was just tired of plowing.) We bought two trees, a mango, and an avocado, which we hope to grow at Jaguar Creek.
Well, I don't feel like God is telling me to give up electricity and gas powered machines, but I have to say I admire these Mennonites for taking their faith so seriously.