PERU: BUGS AND BIRDS AND BATS, OH MY! Peruvian Animal Adventures, Part 2

As previously mentioned, once we got to the jungle, we didn't see any domesticated animals (other than dogs, of course). When we first got to our cabanas, we did see these little guys sneaking around the grounds:

At first we thought they were capybaras, but we learned later that they were agoutis, rodents related to the guinea pig but larger and with much longer legs.

This, if you can believe it, is a termite nest high up on the trunk of a very tall tree. The black viney-looking stuff curling around the trunk below the nest is actually a tunnel, built by the termites, which they take to get from their nest to the ground.

This snail was at least as big as my hand:
A "cute" little tree snake:
A true centipede:
I hate spiders, I really do. This tarantula was humongous:

And this was the biggest spider web I have ever seen. Ever. It was at least 12 feet long:
A beautiful moth:
And an unusual cricket:
Bats lined up like on a tree trunk during the daytime:
A monkey leaping from branch to branch:
What the natives call a "stinky bird." Apparently it has exceptionally bad breath:
A beautiful blue and gold macaw:

This gorgeous bird, called a "trogon," lives in the top of the rainforest canopy:

And our final wild animal sighting, a caiman, swimming in the Madre de Dios River at night. I'm glad I was in a boat!

UPCOMING: 'SHROOMS (Final Peruvian post)