Snakes in Costa Rica
Costa Rica has more than 100 snake species, of which around 20 are considered venomous. The deadliest snake in this Central American country is the fer de lance, capable of injecting venom of 105 mg in a single bite. One could spot them around tropical rainforests and elevations up to about 2000ft.
Though the country has several venomous snakes, as per the biting statistics, the mortality from snake bites peaked in the 1950s -1960s – at 4.83% per 100,000 people.
In Costa Rica, one may find them in several national parks like Palo Verde, Chiripo, and Carara. Bushmaster is the longest snake in Costa Rica found throughout the country, growing to a length of about four meters on certain occasions.
A marine or sea snake was discovered by researchers in 2017, which they named the yellow sea snake. It even has a unique swimming strategy, curled into a ball, attacking the fish close to it. They were initially thought of as a color variant of the yellow-bellied sea snake, which suggests its possibility as a subspecies or maybe a new species.
| Groups | Venomous | Non-venomous |
|---|---|---|
| Rattlesnakes | Neotropical Rattlesnake Central American Rattle Snake | |
| Coral Snakes | Central American Coral Snake | |
| Whip Snakes | – | Coachwhip |
| Garter Snakes | – | Common Garter Snake |
| Kingsnakes | – | Honduran Milk Snake |
| Sea Snakes | Yellow-bellied Sea Snake | |
| Bothrops | Fer De Lance | – |
| Ahaetulla | Green Vine Snake | – |
| Thelotornis | Bird Snake | – |
| Porthidium | Toboba Gata | – |
| Metlapilcoatlus | Mexican Jumping Pit Viper | – |
| Leptodrymus | – | Green-headed Racer |
| Bothriechis | Side-striped Palm-pit Viper Eyelash Viper Yellow-blotched Palm-pitviper | – |
| Cerrophidion | Godman’s Montane Pit Viper | – |
| Lachesis | Bushmaster | – |
Porthidium | Rainforest Hog-nosed Pitviper | – |
| Boa | — | Boa Constrictor |
Epicrates | – | Rainbow Boa |
| Corallus | – | Annulated Boa |
Leptophis | – | Parrot Snake |
| Mastigodryas | – | Salmon-bellied Racer |
| Spilotes | – | Caninana |
Quick Information
Deadliest Snakes: Fer De Lance, Tropical Rattlesnake, Central American Coral Snake
