Colombia: poisonous frogs and rare snakes

I'm on the Timbiqui River in Colombia. This is the wealthiest country in the world in terms of biodiversity per square kilometre. One thousand four hundred species of reptiles and amphibians live here, five hundred of which are endemic. I'm going to explore the various types of biotopes that make up the wealth of this country. My first goal is to honour Phyllobates terribilis. This is an aptly named frog because it's the most toxic frog in the world. Then I'll continue in search for other amphibians and reptile species. And with a bit of luck, I might find one of the largest viperids in the world, the bushmaster. This promises to be an exciting journey. Strange, mysterious and sometimes dangerous, reptiles are nevertheless fascinating. My name is Nathaniel Mory. I'm a photographer and a herpetologist. I've decided to roam the planet alone with fifteen kilos of gear in a backpack to photograph reptiles and amphibians, whether known or unknown to this day. My project is to create a detailed encyclopedia of all these species before they disappear. That's the challenge I've set for myself. Ten years ago, it was still impossible to travel here. The area was totally controlled by the FARC and drug traffickers. Thanks. The real adventure is about to begin. This preserved forest is named after the frog I'm looking for, Phyllobates terribilis, the most toxic frog in the world. It almost became extinct in two thousand and twelve. Luckily, a fifty hectare nature reserve was created specifically for the species. Phyllobates terribilis is a terranium frog, meaning that it lives at ground level. So you have to search around the leaves, look under tree trunks. Then again, it's a yellow frog, so it's rather conspicuous. Still, it's small, so you do have to look carefully. Here in Timbiki, the average annual rainfall is over six meters. There's no rainy season because it rains all the time. It's great for frogs, but at close to one hundred percent relative humidity. I need to be extra careful with my photo equipment. Oh, there's a snake. I don't know if it's a fake coral or a coral yet. I need to see its head. Coral snakes aren't usually arboreal, so this is probably a fake coral. Yeah, it's an arboreal fake coral. That's Rhinobotryum bovali. It's just beautiful. You're going to come with me and we're going to do some nice photos. This is a type of snake that mimics the colors of Microrus, which are part of the cobra family. So actually, they pretend to be dangerous, but they're not. It's a useful trick against prejudices to think they're venomous. Whereas, in fact, they don't have any venom. This is serendipitous because I don't think this snake has been documented here yet. Terribilis, I have to make as little noise as possible because I could frighten it away. I'm going to try and catch it. Yay! Philibertis terribilis. So this is a frog I mustn't touch with the wrong hand because it's very dangerous. Oh, he's magnificent. I'll have to put him in the box. It's a bit tricky. There. Make sure not to touch the part of the glove that was in contact with the frog because there's surely batrachotoxin on it. There. OK. There's a glove I won't use anymore. There. He's cute as can be, but he's as dangerous as he's cute. So that's the most toxic frog on Earth. Lab tests measured the lethal dose at fifty percent. So LD-fifty is what's used to measure toxicity. And this animal's LD is ten thousand mice. This means that with the poison contained in this frog, you could kill ten thousand mice. Around fifteen human beings. I'm pretty sure they didn't test it on humans. This photo is going to be tricky because this is a frog that hops all over the place and it mustn't touch the equipment to avoid putting poison all over the instruments. There. I've got the GPS localization. Terribilis. I'm going to put this log back into place because I've made a bit of a mess. That's better. Well, I think I'm going to stay here. There's a bit of space. I'll set up my tarpaulin. Well, yeah, it starts to rain heavily. I'm going to hang up my hang up between these two trees and do my photo shoot underneath. You just can't work in the rain because you get water all over the lenses. First photo shoot in Colombia. That's a good start. The most toxic frog in the world. One of the very rare snakes in Colombia. The fake coral, which is absolutely magnificent and its behavior is really amazing. Let's start with a snake. That one's not dangerous. It doesn't have any venom. And it's rather rare because it has only been documented about twenty times by scientists in all of Colombia. There. So it likes to call itself up like that. But it's not ideal for me because you can't see all of its characteristics. I need him to uncoil. He's going to have to relax. I have to flatten him out so that all of his rings show. There we are. Now that's perfect for the overall shot, providing he doesn't go away. Really beautiful, isn't it? With his cream colored red and black bands. I'm going to take photos of the head. That's incredible. There's white bands between the scales. It's well, that's something else again. From the side. And now I have to take the photos of the ventral scales. So he's larger than you might think, because when he's rolled up, it's like a tight ball that fits in your hand. But once uncoiled, he's at least one twenty, one thirty meters long. Isn't he sweet? Doesn't bite, he moves slowly. There we go. So I'm going to have to roll him up there in a circle. As soon as he notices that he's rolled up, he feels safer because his body will feel tighter. There you go. Let's make a sandwich. Now's my chance, maybe. All right, you can turn over. That's OK, I've got my photo. That's funny, slithering on his back there. OK, I'll put him back in the bag and release him later using the GPS coordinates. Now let's do Philibertus terribilis. So because this is an extremely toxic frog, I'm going to protect my equipment with plastic sheets. That way, if I handle another frog later on and even if I've cleaned everything up, I won't risk there being some leftover batraca toxin, which would kill the frog if it touches something contaminated. So that's why I'm covering up all the gear with plastic. There, a glove. That's essential because it has enough toxins to kill ten to twenty people. There's no fooling around with this frog. So this one wins the prize of the most toxic frog on the planet. Actually, the reason it has bright colors is because it has nothing to fear from predators. Predators know that this frog is poisonous, so it can prance around in broad daylight with its flashy colors. OK, a quick wash to clean off any dirt, make him nice and clean. There you go. And on top of everything, the slippery. I'll start with the leg. The leg. That's done. There's still a lot we don't know about this frog. For example, about its toxin, its batraca toxin, which is synthesized on its own. Rather, they need specific diet to produce the toxin. This means that the frogs lose their toxicity when captive. So if you were to put this one in captivity, for example, a year later, it would have lost fifty percent of its toxicity. And if it were born in captivity, it wouldn't be toxic because it wouldn't have access to the food it has here. So it wouldn't be able to synthesize the batraca toxin. OK, so now I have to turn him on his back. Yeah, he's sensitive. So now I can't touch my camera because I've got batraca toxin on my glove. If I touched it, I'd risk being in contact with the toxin. There, I've got the ventral shot. That's perfect. He's quiet now. I'm going to turn him over. We'll turn over on his own. Come on. There, I have a nice profile shot. Fantastic. And there, one from above. That's funny. His fingers are black tips. And from the front. There. Phyllobates terribilis for the encyclopedia. They're really incredible animals. To think that such a small animal has enough toxin to kill two African elephants. Come on. Climb up. There you go. Always check all over to make sure that there's no toxin left. all right. We're not far now. Oh, here we are. We've arrived. Come on. I'm taking you home. You probably recognize the place. There we go. One down. We shouldn't be very far now. OK, this is the place. So you were asleep here. I'm sorry, interrupted your nap. You're going to be a star in the encyclopedia. Oh, that's fascinating. They're really the king of arboreal snakes. To be able to climb up a smooth trunk like that quickly and without falling. Well, it's almost reached the top. I'll get back to my business. I'll be pursuing my explorations in San Cipriano Nature Reserve now because this is where many endemic species live. The reserve is canvassed by rivers which have created a very specific biotope. Right now, we're in the Sabandian Forest at the foothills of the Andes. This area is not easy to access and can only be reached by one means of transportation. The Bruita. I'm going to set my camp before nightfall. One of my small pleasures is to pick a spot over the water. Here is perfect. I have a nice view in the morning. I've got drinking water and these two trees to hang up my hammock. When you hang your hammock over a river, always check there is vegetation below. If there isn't, it means that when it rains, the water rises very fast. That's not the case here. Otherwise, the ferns would have been torn away by the rising water. So I'm safe here. In rivers, you can find stones to use. All right. Will this hold? There. OK, I'm all set up. Night is falling. It's time to explore. There's a whole network of rivers right next to here. It looks promising. I'm on the hunting ground of the Bushmaster, one of the largest vipers on Earth. You really need to watch your step because this is a very dangerous viper and an aggressive one. Difficult to find these snakes because they spend most of their time in holes that can only be found when they're hunting. The problem is that people kill them when they see them because they're afraid of them. So now they're hard to find. Hello. This is a Kenosternum leucostenum, a box turtle. They can close up completely. Actually, the breastplates pivot and he can close up at the front and back. I'll let him go. I already did one in Costa Rica. That's fun. The swimming box. OK, off we go again. Wow. Buona Picturata. That's a rather rare frog. He's beautiful. And the Western Basilisk. Basiliscus galleritus. A handsome male. Oh, well, this is a really busy river. All right. It's high time I turn back. I enjoyed a nice break in the weather. I found some animals and it's starting to rain heavily. It's time to go to bed. Well, it's nice to be home. First, a well-deserved night. I'm happy because I can see all the ventral scales here. I can count them. It helps with identification. And most of all, the pterobilis. What a dead serious look. That's not a smiling face. You can see all the poison glands here. As a matter of fact, each little black spot is a gland that can release poison. And as we can see, he's got thousands. Even over the eyes, there are poison glands all over. All those little black spots here. Impressive. Well, that was a really good photo shoot, especially considering it's the first one in Colombia. And tomorrow I'll continue with the other animals I caught tonight. Another promising photo shoot ahead. The weather is splendid this morning. A five star hotel. How many people enjoy such a view from their bedroom? OK, I better get going. I've got animals waiting. Let's pack up. We're off again. Today, I've got a nice photo shoot in store, but we can't do it in the middle of the water. So I need to find somewhere dry with space. Oh, there's a snake. It's a boreal. OK, we've got a little time. I have to find a stick. I think he's going to jump, but maybe not. He might try to climb. They're very agile. Out of reach. Well, I'll try and climb after him. It might be slippery. OK, I'm not sure I can make it. Now he's on a branch, but it's too small for me to get to him. So I need to attract him towards me. Or if he jumps, I'll need to climb down first. In any case, it's going to be a tough call. It's much harder during the daytime because they see us coming. I'm going to put the gloves on so that I can catch him if he approaches. He's beautiful. Oh, there are horseflies. OK, he prefers to climb back up. Now he's on the right branch. He can see me, so he may not want to come my way. Not so clever now, eh? And there, phew. Well, in the bag you go. Isn't he beautiful? That's going to be a great place. Well, you're an arboreal snake, that's for sure. You certainly know how to climb, right? So do I, luckily. There, Sometimes you need to put in the work. OK, down we go again. All right, you're going straight to the photoshoot. I'm going to set up here for the photoshoot. There's enough room for me to catch the animals in case they escape. I'll start with the frog. But when I picture Arta, these frogs change color easily and I'd like to get several colors if possible. He's magnificent. They're able to change colors fairly easily. Today when I caught him, he was orange. Now he's a greenish color with yellow spots and changing colors as I speak. I'm going to try and put him in another position. Ah, there. That's perfect. He has enormous eyes for a size. Very pretty. I'll do the feet and finish with the ventral shot. These frogs have very little feet for their size. They're completely arboreal. They have fluids at the tip of their fingers that help them stick to the tree's hips. So it's very important to photograph the feet because many frogs can be identified by the layout of their fingers. There. Let's take the belly shot. So he's going to try to grab on. I'm using the plastic sheet. It's too fine for him to hang on to. OK, that's perfect. There. It's a rather rare frog. They don't live in groups. You can only see one at a time. They're extraordinary animals. With the huge bulging eyes on the top of the head, the spots on their back. They're really improbable. And their ecology is rather interesting because they hide during the daytime and come out at night to eat. Their hunting position is poised on a vertical branch, the way I found this one yesterday. I'll take a picture on my finger just for fun. He's really pretty. A very pretty looking frog. OK, I'll put him back in the bag because I'm not going to let him go here. That's not where I found him. Can you go? So now we have the basilisk. It's a very nervous lizard, so they're going to be difficult to shoot. First of all, they bite. And when they do, it hurts a lot. And most of all, they run very fast. Hello there. Hey, don't bite. Biting people is rude. That's OK. That's the first thing. They're rather extraordinary animals. They have a crest, a small crest here. I already photographed Basiliscus basiliscus in Costa Rica, but this is Basiliscus galleritus, which has a rigid crest. Only males have one like this. Females have a tiny one. All right. I'll start with the headshot. That's magnificent. There's a white plastron. He's a really beautiful animal. Just one more photo from the front there. So now it's a bit more delicate because I have to take the ventral photo. Don't run away. Don't bite. There. OK, so now I have to move carefully There I have my ventral shot. OK, so now comes the most difficult photo of all because he's poised for running. And the idea is for him to stay, even though he sees a nice river to run to. So be cool, please stay for the photo and then you can leave. So now I'm placing him in the starting block position. He's ready to dart off. What I want to do is take the photo before he runs away. There. See when you want to. That's cool. Yeah, look. Hey, you could have said goodbye at least. Oh, well, goodbye then. He's gone, so let's continue with the snake. Let's take some photos of his head. Where's that little head of yours? There, So what's your name? You're a garter snake, that's for sure. You're not a cobra. I don't know the species. I think it's a Freenanatz. But I'll have to check when I get home. You can tell by the head, which is compact and wider behind. The scales on the back are streamlined, which is specific to the species. Not all snakes have that. Come on, roll up. You'll see that once you're tightly coiled up, you'll feel calmer. Relax. Or don't. OK, I'm going to risk getting bitten, but it's calculated risk because they're not dangerous. I do see more freedom of movement. There you see, you just need to coil up to feel better. Why don't you play nice before it rains? He's calming down. Hey, come on. OK, well, now I'm sure that it's a Freenanatz by the way he puffs up his neck. That's typical of that kind of snake. So when you have a snake with bands, you have to make sure you can count the bands because it helps to identify the species. But since he doesn't have bands, it doesn't matter if he's a bit messy on the photo. It won't stop us from identifying him. I'm going to try and do a quick one. Looks more or less calm. There. We're doing nice photos together. Do the same one for me on your back and we'll be done. I'm going to try and use the glass. With the glass, however, I have to get all the ventral scales. He needs to call up really tight because he's big. There. There we go. I'll try to take away the glass. The quality of the picture is always better without. OK, now I can count all the ventral scales. Well, in the end, the ventral shot was much easier than the overall one. Great. Well, thanks. Doesn't look very happy. I knew it. He's not happy. I'll let him go because we're right next to his tree. Beautiful, isn't it? Well, I still haven't found the Bushmaster. We'll see. Maybe we'll find it. Maybe we won't. I've thoroughly explored the areas around the river, so now I'm going to search higher for more animals. The species that live in biotopes at a higher altitude. I'm going to play a little bit of a song, that was some adventure. OK, I'm taking you back home. It's super slippery. Not very big. There's your little tree. I meant to tell you the prettiest arboreal frog I've ever seen. You're too pretty. OK, well, I'll leave you to your business. I'll get on with mine. I think I've just found a shower and there's a lot of water pressure. OK, enough of that. I've got a mountain to climb. Let's go. OK, there's a boa. Wow, he's large. Oh, he's magnificent. Nice beast. Impressive. That's a constrictor snake. But you have to be careful anyway, because they've got big teeth and a snake that size is very strong. So you can't afford to mess up when catching one. It's not a very practical spot. I have to block the head. But you need to be quick about it, because they're so strong that you can't block them forever. He's trying to escape more than he's trying to bite there. I've got him. He's enormous. I'm really glad. Boa constrictors can be very aggressive. They open their mouths and project their heads forward to bite. This one looks rather calm. Nothing but muscle. I love it. He's coiling up his tail. How funny. OK, now in the bag. He's nice and heavy. Incredible. He weighs at least ten kilos. OK, so they're not uncommon. After all, the boa constrictor is one of the most emblematic snakes in South America and one of the largest. It's the second largest of the Oconda. And this is a good size specimen. A nice adult, not a baby. I'm going to return to the spot where I left my bag and then I'll climb a little higher to find a spot for the photo shoot. Let's go. Always keep the glove and the hook handy. It's important because this time he played nice, but he could have been aggressive and teeth like that can really hurt. Let's see if he fits in the bag. I should have taken a larger one. There. Wow, he's heavy. I'm going to take the GPS coordinates to release him later on. And off we go it's beautiful. That's an Oophaga histrionica. Slightly toxic, but with this type of bag, I'm protected. Oh, there we are. A nice little spot. Not the ideal spot, but it'll do. You wouldn't know it, but a boa is heavy to drag around. There. Wait while I set up the studio. This time I'm going to use the tarpaulin because not only is the boa too large for the white box, but if on top of that, I've got leaves in front of the boa's body. I have to retouch the photo and that's really not the goal here. I'm curious to know how much he weighs. I have my portable scale. Let's check. Eleven kilos, four hundred. Take away the weight of the bag, he's a good eleven kilos. That's a good size baby. They usually weigh between six and sixteen kilos. So this one is already a large specimen. So a snake like this exerts around thirty two newtons, which corresponds more or less to three thousand two hundred kilos. That means that if he squeezes me, that's a pressure of three thousand two hundred kilos. So I mustn't ever let him call around me. OK, let's see if he's in a good mood. All right. The first thing is to find the head. There is. I'm going to put the glove on because if he bites me, I'll need stitches. Hey, there. Let's take the front shot. Now I need a lateral one. That's good. Let's take the shot of the top of the head there. He's got a large mark on his head. It's very pretty. They come here. Impressive. All right. That's good. Now we need to relax. Come on. I just take these last two photo shots and I'll take you home. All right. I need to group him properly so he can fit into the front. Given his size, that's no easy feat. No, no, no. Say here. There you go. Oh, OK. So I'm typically in the wrong position because my hook is not where it should be. He quiet, relax. He's realized that he could escape into the jungle. So that's why he's trying to do. Come on, relax. OK, I'm going to try it. He's perfect there. That I like. Great. All right. This is new for you. For animals on the backs to take pictures of their bellies. So you need to try to play nice with me and let me do. It's unbelievable how they can be at the same time strong and very delicate. No, you don't want to. Why don't you stay still just for a moment with me? What I'm going to do is take off my glove because it gets in the way. The problem is with gloves is that they make it harder to be gentle. You lose your sense of touch. The animals feel it and it makes them nervous. We're almost there. It took a while, but he's calmed down there. All right. Now I'm going to measure him. The tape measure works best. There's already one meter. Fifty now, two meters, which brings us up to two meters. Eighty seven. Not bad, eh? OK. You've been really cool. They have a reputation for being aggressive, but I don't think so. OK, I'll put you back in the bag because you don't live here. There. He's in the bag. All eleven kilos and two eighty seven meters of him. This is a respiratory bag, so be able to breathe. You'll be nice and comfy inside. Now for the other little frog. Shower time. You have to spruce up for the photo shoot. Unbelievable. The colors are just incredible. A color drawing wouldn't have been better. OK, I'm going to do the feet first. The foot, now the belly. So now that's Ophaga histrionica and it's a quick jumper. Know the drill, the first photo shoot, and then you can hop back to your jungle there. I don't know his common name. Let's just call him marbled frog. Interesting fact about this frog is that the females lay unfertilized eggs to feed the tadpoles. So the tadpoles feed exclusively on unfertilized eggs until they're fully developed. That's to say that when they turn into frogs, and that's why the frog is called Ophaga, which means egg eater. No hopping. Now for the picture on the back. Dorsal shot, done. He's going to want to jump. There, I knew it. I've never seen so much color on a frog. The designs are just amazing. If you chin up, there. Oh well, that's it. One more plate for the encyclopedia. Come on, let's take you back home. Thanks for the photo. I found some fabulous animals here. Hope I'll have as much luck up in the mountain. Well, in any case, thanks for the plate because it's absolutely beautiful. Yeah, thanks again. It was a fabulous surprise. OK, we're nearing the GPS location. Wow, that's deep. So my favorite moments is when the animals go back home. I'm in the Cordillera Central. The tall palms you see here are the tallest in the world. They can grow up to seventy meters. This is Colombia's national tree. It's called the wax palm because they were formerly exploited to make candles. This place is very specific. Biotopes, altitude, biotopes with endemic species. Ending altitude species takes work. You have to go and get them. It's important to turn over the palm leaves and pieces of wood because some mountain species hide underneath them during the daytime and they come out at night. On the way to find. OK, the good thing is that there are plenty of hiding spots, so we have lots of options. Well, there we are. Well, that's great. Come over here, you small toad. He was quietly hiding under the branch and now he's in the bag. All right. I need to find a place where the ground is flat because here it's rather steep. Oh, a snake. I need to be careful with this one because it's a macorus. This is a real coral snake. You can tell by its yellow rings and the red tail with three bands. That's specific of macorus myparitus. He saw me. He's really beautiful. This is really great. I would never have thought I'd find a coral snake this high up. I knew that some lived at altitude, but they're rare because there is less prey. So the number of snakes per square kilometer is much lower at higher altitudes than it is at sea level. This is awesome. I'm super happy. There we go. Let's start with the small toad. This is Osornophrine percrasa. He's very special because he can live at an altitude of three thousand nine hundred meters. This means that he has a very slow metabolism. That's why he moves a bit clumsy. But he can cope with temperatures that are close to freezing. And that's exceptional for an amphibian. So this is a vulnerable species. It lives only high up with global warming, temperatures rise, and there comes a moment when they can't climb any higher. If the mountain is three thousand three hundred meters high, there's no cooler area for them to migrate to. Let's take a photo of the feet. They're really exceptional feet. The fingers are almost... I don't know. It's as if they had half a phalanx on the front and hind fingers. I'm going to have to take the ventral photo quickly before he turns over, because this is a fast animal. All right, I'll take the lateral shot while he's walking. He's moving slowly. That's nice because I can adjust the focus on my camera while he's moving. So the difference between toads and frogs is, of course, their skin. Toads have rucous skin and there's no mucus. So frogs have mucus on their skins, whereas toads in general have drier skin. That's one of the main differences. And second, toads walk, they don't hop. They have much shorter feet than frogs do. Now we're going to photograph a coral snake, much more dangerous. They never stop moving. They're known for that. I'm going to prepare a small device to calm him. There I've got my little box. I'm going to block him underneath and wait until he relaxes. Then I delicately remove the box. And at that point, I should be able to take my overall photo. Coral snakes belong to the same family as cobras. This is Elapidae. And the Elapidae family have toxic venom. It attacks all of the nervous system so it can stop your heartbeat. It can cause respiratory problems. In short, it's serious. If you get bitten, it doesn't hurt. Some people can be bitten without even realizing it. The venom is painless, but it's very dangerous. So now I must put him under the box without getting bitten. There. Now we wait until he calms down. He stopped moving finally. Superb. With the tongue sticking out. There. OK, now for the head. It's going to be a bit trickier. This is a very active snake, so photographers usually have a hard time with him. OK, back to the box there. All right, let's try again. There. Now we do the ventral shot. So we need to use the glass. There. He came down a notch. But I took the photo. You're a tough one. Even didn't get the Bushmaster. I've got a new collection of really interesting plates from Colombia. I'm very satisfied with my trip. Colombian biodiversity has held all of its promises. I captured and photographed over eighty species of reptiles and amphibians. But we need to be vigilant and redouble our efforts so that these species, some of which are endemic, remain protected. Anything can come as a pretext to deforest and destroy their habitat. And we have to keep up the fight so that my encyclopedia does not become the only proof of the existence of priceless treasures forever lost.