Back in January 2023, a particularly painful toothache resulted in me needing to get my wisdom teeth removed while I was in Costa Rica. Chatting with my dentist before the procedure, I found out that he was a snake enthusiast who used to be a tour guide before changing professions. Indeed, he once owned a pet Burmese Python that was purported to be the largest snake in Costa Rica at the time.

After the surgery, he put me in touch with his cousin, who agreed to take me out looking for snakes the following night – and that’s how I ended up on a six-hour night hike in the jungles of central Costa Rica, doped up on codeine, less than 48 hours after getting my wisdom teeth yanked out.

Never pass up an opportunity to see cool snakes.

Early in the evening, the guide excitedly pointed to a mass of tangled, brown vines, and we walked over to take a closer look. To my surprise, one of the vines suddenly began to move of its own accord. A yellow eyeball abruptly materialised, and then the vine opened its mouth. It was at this point I realised that I was not in fact looking at a vine, but a Vine Snake – the first one I had encountered in the wild.

In the weeks that followed, I began seeing these snakes much more often, making me wonder just how many serpentine vines I had unwittingly wandered past during my previous jungle jaunts.

When threatened, Vine Snakes open their mouths as wide as possible in an attempt to intimidate potential predators. Unfortunately, however, this definitely had the opposite effect on me, because I reckon it makes them look unbelievably photogenic.

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Köhler’s Vine Snake (Oxybelis koehleri), Turrialba, Costa Rica