Jungle Animals

We live in a jungle. So what’s the difference between a jungle and a forest?

“A forest has many tall trees and can usually be traveled through by humans. The word 'jungle' is usually used to describe a tangled or overgrown mass of vegetation over a large area of land. A jungle usually has a tropical or humid climate and many plants on the ground between trees and larger plants.” The people who live here always bring their machetes with them if they are planning on taking shortcuts. They bushwhack their way through the vegetation.

The jungle on the lot was partially cleared in the construction of the house. Palm trees, cacti and some tropical flowering plants have been planted around the house to provide shade and some colour. A lovely breeze from the ocean is able to come through the remaining trees.

The native animals that live in the jungle include iguanas and other lizards, snakes, squirrels, raccoons and coyotes. We read that a few of the animals that live here are endangered as their habitat is threatened by development. i.e. turtles, eagles and iguanas. We have seen all of the above animals except for the raccoons.

Everyone should know that the tropics are a place where insects abound as well as scorpions and spiders that are arachnids and in a different class from the ordinary collection of flying insects and ants. In the past 5 weeks, we have battled and won with termites, encountered a tsunami of ants, evicted spiders of every colour and size, watched walking sticks and praying mantises do their thing, removed wasp nests, checked our shoes and clothing for small scorpions and sprayed ourselves against mosquitoes. Haha. It reminds us of our time in the Amazon, living with nature. Love it.

But there are also other jungle creatures here - the jungle goats, the jungle cattle, the jungle horses and of course the jungle dogs - that just appear when we least expect them to.

Yesterday as I was reading my book beside the pool, a dreaded jungle goat herd snuck into the yard and came up to drink water from the pool. Where there is a will, there is a way. Chris told me to turn my head and look. There they were, not 10’ away, and I hadn’t even heard them. Well, maybe I didn’t hear them, but they certainly heard me, and scampered away with their tails in the air.

Every day is a new day and living in this lovely house in the jungle has been fun.Læs mere