#3 yes

They are cool little animals. I'd like to try and raise one from a baby if I find one. I doubt those are quills. Porcupines exist in South America, but not where I live, as far as I know. It's very interesting here. I was walking through the forest to get wood for my smoker (3 hog legs) and got to watch a troop of capuchin monkeys pass over my trail in the canopy above. We get green wing macaws in the trees by our house every morning and toucans are common in the area. Not to mention all the fresh tropical fruit, many of which aren't heard of back home in the states.

So where in S America are you?

I understand that you can just use old lumber for the smoker down there.

Still Costa Rica? If so, how is the weather? I keep seeing news about fires and sinkholes this last week.

Based on color pattern I'd say that's a southern tamandua which would place you in South and not Central America. If that's the case and you aren't in northwestern Colombia, the quills on the tree are likely those of a prehensile tailed porcupine which have a large range in the rain-forested areas of South America but aren't present in Central America.

Yep, quills! I don't know how I missed those in the photo last night. I guess we have porcupines in the area.

He old.

marcel ledbetter said:

---

I faded into Bolivian a bit over a year ago.

---

I want to go after dorado on fly in those beautiful streams in western bolivia so bad it is hard to describe.

Me too! I'm working on it, slowly. I'm getting to know people that live in small communities up in the Amazon. Some live on the big rivers up there amend are avid fishermen. I forget the name of the fish but there's a giant invasive fish in some of the big rivers that can reach several meters in length. Some of the guys I've met live near rivers with those fish. I think they'll take me fishing if I can get up there sometime.

That sounds right. I'm working on learning the local names for all the game fish.

marcel ledbetter said:

---

That sounds right. I'm working on learning the local names for all the game fish.

---

Would you originally be from the Liberty, MS area? Say between Liberty and McComb?

When I was living in Nicaragua a guy that lived down the street had a couple of those as quasi pets. He had a whole enclosure where he kept them, I think he took one out to his farm as when I saw his set up there was only one. I remember him telling me, but I gladly didn't get to experience it, that they can produce a tremendously foul odor, like worse than a skunk. I wanna say that is why he had taken the one out to his farm.

Keeping them fed in a domestic situation is apparently a challenge from what I remember him telling me. Those are cool animals. Seeing that one is way cool.

Thanks for the warning!

marcel ledbetter said:

---

Speaking of railroad tracks, my landlord has an employee that's sort of a ranch hand/maintenance guy. He's got one leg missing just above the knee. He still saddles up and rides around ahorseback with his crutch tied off and his nub of a leg pointing towards the horse's neck. The landlord says he got real drunk one day (they sell very cheap bottles of ethyl alcohol here. One brand is named Fearless John!) It's extremely potent. This dude got drunk and passed out on the train tracks on which this ant bear was walking. A train came along and amputated his leg for free!

---

I have five railroad guys in the RV park, they come and go. One day, I run by there for some reason about 10am and they are all there. They work 7 on and 7 off and should have been at work. I asked what was up and one of them told me they got sent home early. Turns out they were working in an area with numerous tracks and some derelict decided he didn't want to wait on a barely moving train so threw his bicycle under the train then tried to crawl under to come out on the other side and wound up losing both legs.

zooguy96 said:

---

marcel ledbetter said:

---

Me too! I'm working on it, slowly. I'm getting to know people that live in small communities up in the Amazon. Some live on the big rivers up there amend are avid fishermen. I forget the name of the fish but there's a giant invasive fish in some of the big rivers that can reach several meters in length. Some of the guys I've met live near rivers with those fish. I think they'll take me fishing if I can get up there sometime.

---

Probably the Arapaima. Used to feed them at one of the aquariums I worked at. Cool fish.

---

Boot fish

Would love to import one of these that eats fire ants