Barn Owl and a Big Scare.

Today was the last full day of our Rainforest Photography Tour (blipmeet).  We are pretty tired and a lot bitten and scratched, but it has been beyond incredible.  I have yet to compile the list of new creatures I have seen.  It has been truly amazing.   Today we saw this Barn Owl, along with Shriek Owls and Pygmy owls, Mot Mots, Macaws and woodpeckers... all in the wild. 

Our accommodations the last two nights have been very nice with AC, and an unusual open ceiling, fully modern tiled outdoor bathroom with a garden adjacent to the bedroom.  It was a little unsettling when going to the bathroom during the night however as there were lots of creepy crawlies. .  We were told to keep the bathroom light on all night to prevent bats from showing up. 

There was a little hiccup this evening when I noticed my sneakers on the floor had something dark underneath.  I thought I had tracked in some mud so moved the shoe only to reveal a very LARGE black Scorpion.  It spread out and scurried along the wall and stopped.  I was so afraid to take my eye off of it because I knew that if it disappeared, I would have to sleep somewhere else. Of course, there was no way to call the front desk as rainforest lodges don't have phones.  As I wondered what to do, I heard Hillyblips come out of her bungalow and I opened my door with considerable alarm and frantically called her in.  After she came down off the ceiling, she ran off to notify the front desk, of course stopping to tell Dbifulco to go to my room.  Deb came, then Hilly came back and we all took pictures before one of the Lodge employees swept it into a dust bin and relocated it outside.  I have loaded this scary creature into the extra.  It was about 1.5 inches long and stretched out to about 2+ inches when it scurried.  The stuff of nightmares.....