Category: Uruguay

Cute little snake

Looked to be 20-25 centimeters long. I nudged it with a stick to encourage it to move out of the middle of the path (and out of sight of birds, though extremely windy and none to be seen.

So what is it? I asked Grok.

Canelones, Uruguay: what kind of snake is this?

[Thought for 37s]

This appears to be a juvenile crucera (Bothrops alternatus, also called víbora de la cruz or yarará grande), a venomous pit viper native to Uruguay (including Canelones) and neighboring countries. snakeradar.com +1Key matching features from the photo and species descriptions:

  • Bold, irregular dark (nearly black) dorsolateral blotches or “C”/telephone-receiver/headphones-shaped markings with pale (cream/white) borders or centers on a lighter ground color. These can appear somewhat connected or blotchy, especially in young animals, and match the classic crucera pattern. everything.explained.today +1
  • Small size (juveniles/neonates are typically ~20–25 cm and more brightly patterned than adults).
  • Robust body for its length and typical head shape of a Bothrops.
  • Found on sand — cruceras occur in grasslands, wetlands, near water, and occasionally wash up or appear on beaches/coasts in southern Uruguay (including Canelones) after rains or via currents. elpais.com.uy

It is one of the two medically significant Bothrops in Uruguay (the other is the yarará, Bothrops pubescens, which has more trapezoidal markings and is less associated with lower/coastal areas). Adults reach 80–150+ cm; both species have heat-sensing pits, triangular heads, and venom that can cause significant local tissue damage and other effects (antivenom is available in Uruguay via the CIAT toxicology center). gub.uy

Similar-looking non-venomous species that can occur in the same area (and also like sandy habitats) include:

  • South American hognose / falsa crucera or nariguda (Xenodon dorbignyi, including the Uruguay subspecies whose type locality is in Canelones). It mimics the crucera’s blotchy pattern, has an upturned snout for digging in sand, and is harmless to people (though it may flatten its head and body when threatened). en.wikipedia.org +1
  • Other colubrids such as certain Erythrolamprus (e.g., culebra de Peñarol) or Dryophylax hypoconia (culebra de la arena) have different spotting or banding and are generally more slender or differently patterned.

Recommendation: Do not handle it. Keep a safe distance, and if it is near people or pets, contact local wildlife/rescue experts (e.g., Alternatus Uruguay or the relevant environmental authorities) for safe relocation. In case of a bite, seek immediate medical help (call CIAT at 1722 in Uruguay) — do not apply tourniquets, cut, or suck the wound.

Identification from a single photo is not 100% certain without scale counts, head details (pits, pupil shape, snout), or closer examination, but the location, size, and distinctive blotched pattern strongly point to a young crucera. If you have additional photos (especially of the head or underside), that would help confirm.

The faceoff

Lara, left, and Leo, right, otherwise known as the little white monsters, abruptly parked themselves in these positions in the middle of the dog walk. We were expecting to see an epic clash, like a joust, but after a few moments they both decided, “Meh,” and wandered off to chase Mocha the dog, who was chasing dirt bikers. Much more exciting, even if they took no interest in chasing the motorcycles ( good thing), only Mocha. Sofie, center above, made one of the encounters more interesting by standing in middle of the wide sand path of the moto, whose rider yelled something at her. We were too far away to do anything. We didn’t hear what he yelled. And didn’t need to, I think.

Poor old dog

Just as our friends are getting ready to adopt a couple of 4-month-old puppies, one with a black spot surrounding one eye, I see this dog a few blocks from us and think, “poor dirty old dog”…

…and then it starts to run. Umm, no, not old. Betty, the orphaned sheepdog we took in last January, is almost 14 years old and not quite up to the young one’s capers – though she can indeed run very fast when she gets it in her mind to do so.

So goes the sitzbad

Over ten years ago, we bought a chacra (mini-farm, 14 acres) with a crappy little house that we chose to fix up instead of bulldoze, the recommendation of some (all?) who saw it. I won’t go into it, but we had a reason.

Given the possibility of being creative, I had the idea to emulate the sitzbad my wife had years ago in her tiny apartment in Frankfurt, West Germany.

So I went wild, because hey, Martín can build it! And it ended up not being compact at all.

But pretty! At one end, a nook for a washing machine.

And don’t ask me what I was thinking when I framed this photo, but it’s the closest I have to an image of the finished project.

Which project was a stupid idea. No question about it. First of all, it would require a huge amount of hot water, and we never pursued the idea of installing a (large!) solar hot water heater. Plus, something that occurred to me only when I showed the house to a middle-aged couple: who, including little kids and older people, is going to be able to comfortably get in and out of the thing?

So an executive decision was made…

…and it didn’t take me long to realize that I was out of my league with a 1-kg sledge hammer and a chisel. I asked our contractor if he had a larger sledge hammer I could borrow, and he went one further and loaned me his small jack hammer. Which turned out to be exactly what I needed.

A few hours here, a few hours there, and three days later the job is done, leaving the question of whether we can match the floor tiles, of which we have six, or the wall tiles (none)…

…and of course, “done” is relative. The last two days’ rubble still needs to go away.

So what to do now (other than slather more horse liniment on my overworked shoulders, of course)?