Since september we have been living at a nature reserve that is also used as the pre-release station for the animals rescued at the Jaguar Rescue Center.
And since we go to work to the JRC every morning and return to the nature reserve in the afternoon, we are constantly asked if we can transport things between the two places.
First it was the food for the animals and large containers of drinkable water for the humans.
Then, we were asked to bring tools, paint or construction materials.
And then, one day, I was asked if I could bring a couple of kilos of tomatoes, two dozens of eggs, a frozen chicken and two squirrels.
Whaaat? wait!. Two squirrels?
To eat? I asked
Noooope, to be housed at the pre-release station so they would get used to the sounds and smells of the forest before being released.
So, since that day I have brought in the car an olingo, a pizote and the two squirrels.
And yesterday, the vet asked me if I could bring four opossums. Sure, I said.
And…he added a bit hesitantlu. Could you also bring a jacaraca. Sure, I said…unsure about which animal it was.
It turned out that it was an eyelashed viper.
I have to say that is a kind of scary to drive with a venemous snake on your car. No matter how safe the box is…I couldn’t help but think that it could open if I there was a big bump on the road or if, for whatever reason, I had an accident.
So, I drove home, through the dirt road that climbs up to the nature reserve at 10 km/hour…
I had placed the four opossums on the back seat. And the viper on the floor of the co-pilot seat…with my backpack on top. ..just in case.
I didn’t realized that I was holding my breath until I arrived to La Ceiba, gave the box to the manager and checked that the viper was still inside.
Pffff. What a relief!!
It was then that the manager, after looking at the snake said “I do not know why the people at the JRC continue using these boxes with these breathing holes to transport snakes. I have already told them that the snakes can bite through the hole….
Oh my!
THE FLIP FLOP LIFE 