I received the following message: “ We found a painted ant-nest frog today, a peculiar frog with an incredible natural history. Once thought to be a species belonging to the group of poisonous dart frogs, these small creatures live within the enormous mounds in the jungle made by leafcutter ants. Little is known about their reproductive habits because they call from within the ant mounds, making it difficult to see interactions among different individuals.

“Ant-nest frogs rely on chemical camouflage to keep the ants from attacking them. In a 2016 study 5 species of frogs were placed in containers with leafcutter ants. All but the painted ant-nest frogs were attacked by the ants. The investigators then coated the other frogs with skin extracts from ant-nest frogs and repeated the experiment. This time none of the other frogs were attacked. Hats off to an amazing adaptation that allows these incredible frogs to live peacefully within an ant mound with access to an all-you-can-eat buffet of ants and other insects. Sounds like a good life.” 

My grandson Parker was on an ecotour expedition in Suriname, a country in the Amazon Basin of South America. An ecotour is comparable to a guided tour anywhere, except instead of focusing on cultural aspects like buildings and bridges, historical events and unusual culinary customs, the emphasis is on natural environments and their inhabitants. Ecotours have been in vogue for decades in the form of African photo safaris, bird-watching trips and plain old nature hikes wherever you might be. A well-designed ecotour can bolster conservation efforts by providing insights into local ecosystems and regional wildlife. The more people know about plants and animals in natural settings, the more they learn to appreciate them.

On his trip through the Suriname jungles, Parker encountered numerous other unusual species including three he had set as goals. One was a bushmaster, the largest venomous snake in the Western Hemisphere. He found one that was 9 feet long. Another was an anaconda, which he found alongside a river as he was leaving for the airport. The last was an aquatic coral snake, which is as beautiful as a snake can be. Another exciting find was completely unexpected, as recorded in his field notes.

“Today I found an  American pipe snake, a rare species and the only member of a family of snakes with remnants of a pelvic girdle—truly a top tier find and definitely one of the coolest snakes I’ve ever seen. I knew there was a chance we could find a pipe snake in Suriname but never expected it to actually happen. A few minutes after finding two caecilians (tropical amphibians that look like earthworms), I flipped over a small unassuming log and initially saw nothing under it. But as I went to move the log back, I caught a glimpse of a tiny bit of red sticking through the leaf litter. Unsure what I was seeing, I pulled back a leaf to reveal this black-and-red-ringed beauty and could barely believe what I was looking at. Pipe snakes are fascinating fossorial snakes that primarily eat caecilians and earthworms. They have nub tails, which resemble the head, that they raise up as a defensive mechanism, as an attack to the tail is much less of a concern than an attack to the head.” 

An ecotour in a tropical rainforest, such as that in Suriname, conducted by a guide who knows the area’s natural history should enhance visitors’ understanding of a rainforest’s environmental value and increase their appreciation of these high-biodiversity ecosystems. During the tour of a rainforest, one soon realizes just how destructive habitat loss is in a forest where hundreds of animals, as well as plants known as epiphytes, live in tall trees and never touch the ground. Increasing public awareness of the diversity of unique wildlife in any natural habitat gets us one step closer to a conservation ethic that is in the best interest of us all.

Send environmental questions to ecoviews@gmail.com.