One of the most admirable and abundant birds also on the páramos and in the jungle, although also known to fly high in mountainous areas, is the tiny hummingbird. Its name originates from the sound made by some of the species. It’s actually the smallest bird in the world but no one seems to have told it that as it’s bold, self-assured and totally unafraid as it goes about its very important daily business. Hummingbirds have even been known to attack hawks and owls. It can actually survive intense cold by lowering its metabolism by up to 95 per cent, as if in a state of hibernation, although just for one night at a time. This process is known as torpor. Its wings can flap at the extraordinary speed, invisible to the human eye, of more than 100 times a second and the heart beats at up to 1,000 times a minute as it hovers seemingly motionless. It mostly feeds on nectar although it will also consume very small insects. It can also fly backwards and that’s quite bewildering to observe. Its bursts of energy are so draining, as it can reach speeds of more than 100 kilometres per hour, that it must eat every half hour in order to store body fat for its lengthy travels. It can eat half its own body weight and drink eight times its weight in water every day. The females are quite flirtatious and will use their feminine wiles to get first to the special flower they are after. Mating can be quite an elaborate procedure with often very acrobatic displays in order to impress. The hummingbird is multi-coloured, although mostly iridescent and a delight at all times to watch in action. There are many varieties and some of the names indicate its versatility and dominant colourings: sword-billed, velvet-breasted, fire-crown, ruby topaz, booted racquet-tail, sparkling-tailed. The sword-billed is one of the larger as its bill is longer than the whole body and likewise the streamer-tailed has a tail much longer than its body. The longer bills in particular often end up with nectar all round the tips, so some of the nectar is carried to and so pollinates the next flower.
There are plenty of noisy snipes and lapwings around and you should try not to tent near their habitats otherwise they may wake you up earlier than intended, particularly as they can fly during the night-time. The owl is another nighttime caller and its persistent sound, charming at first, can become a source of considerable irritation as it continues to look for a mate.
The parrots in Ecuador are many, varied and loud, and often screech out so unexpectedly that it makes me wonder why they are endeavouring to use their mainly green camouflage to remain hidden. They are in fact very sociable and like company but have parrot eyes for only one and will mate for life. I suppose when you’ve got used to the screeching of one, you don’t want to listen to another. Their jaws are exceptionally strong and they can easily crack a hard nut whilst turning their heads to one side, as if quizzically observing to see if you are watching their special skills. They can also use their upper jaw as another claw to climb trees. The macaws, although part of the family, are more multi-coloured and range from yellow and blue to bright reds or scarlet. All parrots are at risk from poachers and the loss of much of their habitat.
Although not of the parrot family, its colourful plumage and its beaked nose make the toucan seem very much part of the tropical rainforest bird ‘exotics’. They are great fun to observe and they love to be watched, being tremendous show-offs in the nicest sense of the word. They have developed their enormous beaks or bills in order to reach inaccessible fruits and berries and can only eat by cleverly flipping bits upwards to catch and swallow. There are many wonderful varieties in the jungle and these include the blue-eyed, the white-throated toucan boasting a black bill with a central yellow stripe, and the mountain toucan that naturally lives high up so it can look down on its forest cousin.
In Ecuador there are also more than a million species of insects; it’s impossible to know how many species are as yet undiscovered. It’s in fact estimated that there are more unidentified insect species than the total of the world’s identified animal species. Surprisingly it’s not the ant but the beetle that has more of its kind in the world than any other creature. There are more than 4,500 wonderful butterfly species, some of them absolutely gorgeous and riveting in colour and design, of which 2,500 species are nocturnal. The large, electric-blue morphos butterfly is outstanding and to see a huge grouping is a truly wonderful sight. There are so many colours and sizes and those with markings like an eye on each wing can be startling when you come across them affixed to a tree or a leaf ‘staring’ straight back at you. Further research carried out into the habits of butterflies has also revealed they are more sophisticated than previously thought, and know exactly where they are going in life. Tiny transponders have been fixed to their backs which show they will carry out reconnaissance missions to search for food and can spot sources up to 200 metres away. The attaching of the radar ‘backpacks’ was one of the most intricate technological feats ever attempted on any form of wildlife. The butterflies had to be very gently held whilst the transponder weighing one 12-thousandth of a gram was fitted to their backs.
The ant, possibly the most dedicated and hard working of all creatures, can carry twigs and leaves up to several times its own weight and size to help build the ant nest. They usually work 18 days non-stop and then procreate for 18 days before continuing the cycle. One can only conjecture what an ant, coming to the end of its ultra-long work period, might call out to a colleague who is now returning and just starting its own 18 day stint. There is a particular ant to be avoided at all cost, called sometimes the soldier ant, or the suture or the surgeon ant or even the rain ant. It is large, can be the size of half a thumb, has very strong pincers and it will not let go once they have gripped onto something. The indigenous tribespeople sometimes use it to suture or bind their wounds when they are out in the jungle and have no other remedy. They hold the ant over the cut or wound and carefully lower the ant over it until it feels contact when it will instantaneously grip the skin around the wound and so holds it tightly together. There are some very potent berry and plant juices in the rainforest which an ant will drink from, and it’s said that an ant when drunk only falls over to its right side. It’s not easy to test this theory out. There are reckoned to be more species of ants in one Ecuadorian rainforest tree stump than in the whole of Britain. The acacia ant has an extraordinary symbiotic relationship with the acacia tree where it makes its home. In return for staying there it will attack any other creature whether it’s another ant, a beetle, a caterpillar or even something larger that tries to make its way onto the tree.
There are so many mysteries within the rainforest and its creatures and they are in danger of being lost unless sufficient time and care are given to unlocking the invaluable information stored there. It has been discovered that a protein in the saliva of certain flies speeds up the clotting process so enabling a wound to heal faster. Also the saliva of the vampire bat has been analysed and is now likely to be used for treating stroke victims. Certain grubs can be used to clear up skin problems; some grubs are very nutritious, and are used by the Indian women to create healthier breast milk. The eating of insects by humans is called entomophagy and has always been practised. Insects are low in carbohydrates, high in protein and have very worthwhile nutritional value. They just look so wriggly! There are obviously so many more possibilities just waiting to be discovered or understood. The jungle is undoubtedly a green storehouse for those who know or want to know.
The three great jungle and rainforest creatures revered by the indigenous tribespeople will always be the jaguar, the anaconda and the caiman (also spelt cayman). The foremost of all is the jaguar and it is the most respected as being the largest and most powerful cat animal in the tropical regions of the whole American continent. Its place at the summit of the animal kingdom is firmly established, and other creatures of all kinds will always give way to it and try to avoid it. Gorgeous in colour, style and grace, its absolute ferocity makes it an implacable enemy. It can measure up to two metres in length, without including the tail which can add another 75 cm, but its legs are short and thick, giving it its incredible pow
er although its head and body are very large. The jaguar has a magnificent tawny yellow coat with dark spots, some of which are jet black. It’s not a runner unless it absolutely has to but relies on its speed of attack and power to overcome its victims. It inhabits cool, shady areas, usually close to rivers and lakes and is an excellent swimmer. Like any cat it can climb trees and any other places, and will use that height to launch itself on any unsuspecting prey. It only eats meat although it likes fish as well, and will usually go for deer or capybara but will also attack caiman and monkey, if the opportunity presents itself. It is not meant to attack humans unless forced to defend itself so if you meet one in the jungle, don’t back down, make a lot of noise and shake your fists and it should saunter off. If it doesn’t you won’t be able to argue about the advice you were given. The female jaguar can have up to four cubs after a gestation period of around 100 days and will nurture them for two years. Jaguars can live up to 22 years but are now an endangered species through having been hunted so vigorously and with their habitat constantly under threat. It has protection within some national parks but in the wild will mostly be found in the Esmeraldas region.
The anaconda is considered the most mysterious and deadly of all snakes, and its ability to fall suddenly upon its victims (including humans) without warning makes it the most feared. It is a close cousin of the boa constrictor and is the largest snake in the world, growing to nine metres and weighing over 200 kilograms. The anaconda will often hide in the swamps to catch its prey but is also known to drop suddenly down from an overhead branch where it’s been lying in wait. Its colouring is green with black patches so it blends into the forest background well and is not easily seen until it’s too late. It is nocturnal and in the dry season it mainly sleeps but if you wake it unwittingly it will come very quickly alive and mount its attack. The anaconda’s bite is not poisonous but it is so powerful that it can easily crush animals and people to death. Its method of foreplay is to knock its victim somewhat senseless with a hammer blow and then wrap its coils tightly around and wait. As the victim struggles and exhales it tightens its grip each time so eventually there is no room to breathe. The worst bit is still to come and it’s better not to be conscious when it occurs. The anaconda is able to unhinge its jaw and thus swallow any size of creature head first, including a caiman. It will then lie on the ground waiting till its digestive juices are able to get to work. This can take several hours and the good news is that it won’t want to eat again for many days.
The Latin name for anaconda is Eunectes murinus and the English is boa constrictor. Both sound just as frightening as the attack action of the anaconda itself undoubtedly is. How to avoid them is the question. Well, they do have a strong, unpleasant, fishy smell, although in the rainforest there are so many smells it’s not easy to distinguish one from another. The best way is to react quickly and to travel with other companions, not on the basis that they may be attacked instead of you, but that there is safety in numbers and, assuming the others don’t run like hell, it is possible one of you will be able to hack at the coils so the anaconda will release whoever it’s hugging to death. Otherwise you can only try singing, while you can, the international hit song of the singer Englebert Humperdinck, ‘Please Release Me, Let Me Go’. Anacondas however don’t have a great sense of musicality or indeed of humour. What they do have, however, is a great sense of reproduction and anacondas are sexy beasts. They are very willing to indulge in week-long orgies, that is one female with up to ten males inseminating her like mad, until complete exhaustion sets in. The females are viviparous and therefore produce up to 100 baby instantaneous wriggling snakes born alive at one time. That can also be quite an alarming sight.
The caiman is considered part of the lizard family. It is similar to an alligator and is sometimes treated as one, and is small in comparison to crocodiles. It has a short tail, a smooth head with a high skull and a large, pronounced overbite, and has short, backward curved teeth. It will walk with its head raised somewhat inquisitively as if looking for someone. Perhaps it is but hopefully someone else. Primarily it goes looking for snakes, birds and capybaras but has been known not to be too choosy. The caiman lives in a burrow and travels from there to the rivers, streams and lakes in which it will swim or more usually float just under the surface. It patrols its territory along the waterways and usually forages at night. The female builds the nest out of the available vegetation and its incubation period is between 90 and 115 days. The female will shepherd the young after the first day of birth into the water where they can very easily fall prey to many predators, and therefore often die young, although the ones that make it to adulthood can live very long. Caiman, however, like many other rainforest creatures, are an endangered species. Their habitats are being constantly reduced and they are hunted for their skins and meat by many who don’t think of the consequences of their actions.
Of course there are all kinds of other animals inhabiting the higher forest regions on the mountain slopes, and many of them are quite strange and wonderful. One of the strangest is the fascinating mountain or woolly tapir (danta). The tapir is the largest mammal in South America and one of the oldest, older even than the dolphin. However the mountain tapir is the smallest of the tapirs. The tapir is now on the endangered list as its numbers have declined rapidly due to much of its natural habitat being destroyed by clearing and burning by farmers, loggers and prospectors. It is also hunted more than ever as its hooves and snout are believed by the Highland peoples at least to contain medicinal properties, especially in treating epilepsy and heart problems (non emotional that is, although the witchdoctors might still use some bits for love potions). The tapir generally is nocturnal but the mountain variety is more versatile and can be active during both the day and the night. It prefers moist areas, as it likes to bathe whenever it can, and in the rainforest there are usually plenty of opportunities. Sightings are rare, as it likes to keep in deep cover. With its thick, heavy body, large ears, altogether strange look and an extremely long snout always sniffing amongst the shoots and ferns, it easily gives rise to all kinds of tapir tales, imaginary or otherwise.
It is rumoured that to find out where you are at any time in the rainforest all you need to do is go to the nearest palm (chonta) tree, just tap here and a tapir will appear and with its snout will point the way out. That may sound like an old folklore story but in these regions anything can happen. You can more easily spot its tracks and the way it’s heading, as it has four toes on the front feet and three on the rear feet.
Another animal that lies to keep a low profile is the sloth. To see one, you will need patience, good eyesight and plenty of sandwiches. Walk far into the forest very quietly, as it usually found asleep, and search amongst the thickest trees until you see a tattered bundle of matted fur precariously fixed to the top of a long, high branch. That could be your sloth and if you are prepared to wait it out, you might see it unbundle itself and move very slowly to another comfortable branch. If not in luck at first, eat a sandwich and start all over again. You must remember it’s the slowest animal in the world and only travels around four metres or less each hour and that’s only when it’s decided to move, which isn’t often. It invariably sleeps around 18 hours each day and always upside down. When looking for your sloth it’s also worth remembering it often has blue-green algae growing and mixed into its hair, which forms its natural disguise.
There are actually two types of sloth, although it’s not easy at first to tell them apart, unless presumably you are another sloth. There is the two-toed sloth and there is the three-toed sloth. You may indeed wonder if a two-toed ever falls in love with a three-toed and would their offspring then end up with 2 ½ toes?
Luckily there aren’t similar physical conditions existing with the amphibious toad, as calling it a two-toed toad would be pretty confusing. It’s also worth noting there are more frogs and toads in one hectare of the lowland forest here than in all of North America. When trekking over the páramos, parti
cularly after a heavy rainfall, remember to be careful wherever you step, as that can bring out an abundance of the black and orange variety of toads, slowly hip-hopping their way through the grasses.
The sloth only gives birth to a baby sloth once a year and only one at a time; it just don’t believe in rushing anything. Sloths are herbivores and particularly love to eat shoots from the cecropia tree, although in line with their normal pattern of behaviour about everything, it takes them about one month to digest their intake. The sloth is surprisingly a very clean and tidy creature and climbs down from its tree (very slowly) to dig a hole in the ground in order to excrete, which is probably why it only excretes once a week. As it does that the moths that live on the sloth in the algae fly off to lay their eggs in this ideal breeding place, before rejoining the sloth for another one-week sleep session. The sloth has many predators including the jaguar and the eagle but as always man is the worst. Apart from the poachers and hunters, much of a sloth’s natural habitat is being destroyed, as trees are logged and the forests slashed and burnt, and oil prospecting continues regardless of the cost to this incredible wilderness. The sloth has therefore become, like so many other extraordinary rainforest creatures, endangered and under constant threat. The sloth has its long curved claws for protection and its skin contains toxic chemicals to help ward off attack, but primarily its best defence is its ability to blend into the rainforest and the trees and not be seen.
Climbing The Equator Page 17