A very loud and terrifying cry shattered the stillness of the jungle evening. The sound was half howl and half growl and very loud and extra scary. If you didn’t know what it was you might imagine a very large and terrifying beast lurking in the jungle. It was the kind of sound that could easily be the sound track of a very scary jungle movie. But this wasn’t a movie it was real and it was happening right in front of me, in the jungles of Belize.

Fortunately I knew exactly what this horrific sound was and therefore wasn’t alarmed. It was the call of the male howler monkey and I was thrilled to hear it. In fact I wanted to get closer to it so I could get some audio recording. There are nearly ten different kinds of howler monkeys, This one was the Yucatan Black Howler Monkey (Alouatta pigra). They are the largest of the monkeys in the New World. They are found throughout Central and South America. The males can weigh up to 25 lbs and the females up to 15 lbs. The one that was calling sure sounded big.

But it wasn’t the howlers that I was trekking through the jungle in the dark to see so we kept moving down the trail with only our handheld flashlights to guide our way. Ahead was a slight widening of the trail and in the middle of the trail was a large manmade object standing about three to four feet tall and ten feet wide. It was dome shaped and covered with green moss and there was a large opening at the top. I put one foot up on the slanted edge and leaned forward in order to peer inside. My flash light illuminated the interior which was large and cavernous. It was a underground cistern constructed hundreds of years ago, used to store fresh rainwater. But there wasn’t any water inside, instead there were about a dozen or so bats clinging to the walls.

I quickly grabbed my camera and adjusted the settings and powered up the flash. One by one the bats started to fly out of the opening into the jungle night. It was hard standing on a moss covered slope but I managed to hold my position long enough to get focused on one of the bats hanging from the interior wall. My guide tells me these are Common Vampire Bats and they use the cistern to roost at night when not out hunting for bugs. Just then the last bat took flight and with just a few flaps it left the cistern and it was all over. Wow, that was cool.

After the bat encounter we continued down the trail in the darkness. Suddenly my guide stopped and trained his flashlight high up in a tree. He said “I don’t see these very often”. I said, “see what very often?” I didn’t see a thing. All I could see was the tree canopy. After a few seconds my eyes adjusted and I finally spotted what he was talking about. It was a small furry critter on a horizontal branch looking down at us. It’s rusty sides and large round ears made it look very unusual. It was a Woolly Opossum (Caluromys derbianus). Also known as Derby’s Woolly Opossum or Central American Woolly Opossum. Either way it was a cool looking critter.

This was truly an amazing find and I was thrilled to have an opportunity to photograph and document it. I set up my camera and flash on my tripod and aimed it high overhead into the jungle canopy. The flash projected the necessary light high up into the tree tops allowing me to capture a few images of this jungle creature before we headed down the trail back towards the outpost lodge where dinner and drinks were waiting. It was a great evening of jungle exploring and one that I won’t forget anytime soon. Until next time…

Stan Tekiela is an author / naturalist who travels to study and photograph wildlife. He can be contacted via his web page at www.naturesmart.com