I used to live in the Canal Zone. On a hike one of my friends told me that there was a vine viper just in front of me. I looked and looked, but couldn’t see it - - - until he poked it with a stick.
Damned thing was three feet from me and I couldn’t see it, even with the warning.
252nd Sig Co. on Flamenco Island from approx. 11/69 - 5/70 then on to Ft. Clayton till 1/72.......
A friend of mine and I were exploring the perimeter of the second island off Ft. Amador, between the one that had the officer's beach and Flamenco. He came across a snake on the rocks and when trying to get close, it bit him. You should have heard him yell. I recognized the snake immediately as a harmless baby boa about 2 ft. long but I told him "dude, you might die!"...LOL!...........
I don't know if I've ever had contact with you due to your life in the CZ, but here's a wonderful website you might want to check out if you're not already familiar with it:
Welcome to Dino's Panama Photos
I left a comment on that website almost 20 years ago, relaying my experiences while stationed on Flamenco Island. Then about 8 or 9 years ago I got an email out of the blue from a guy who read my comment and as it turned out, he and I and two other guys shared an apartment in Panama City while stationed on Flamenco and rode our motorcycles together.........
We maintained an on and off email correspondence with my promise to convert all my colored slides to DVD and send them to him. Unfortunately I never followed thru with my promise and discovered that several months following our last email correspondence, he had died..........