The Agouti - Such a Little Cutie. The Large Rodent of Panama That Looks Like a Big Guinea Pig - Panama's Ñeque. A Story of Habitat Recovery.
For so many reasons we fell in love with Panama and for so many more we continue to appreciate every day we are here. Like everyone, not every day is perfect - how boring would that be? But, those moments that make me pause in my tracks are because of the beauty that surrounds us.
What we found here in Panama back in 2011 was so stunning that we were convinced it was time to sell the ski gear, the trusty Subaru, and give up the mountain life for something totally different - Panama jungle life.
From 10,000 ft to 0 ft is a big change in more ways than we ever could have imagined. The surplus of oxygen is sure nice, the diversity of plant life and wildlife, and especially how easy it is to grow anything and everything is the diggity.
As a landscaper in Colorado with a growing season of 3 months, and the finnicky nature of a high altitude eco system, I never would have believed it if someone told me: you can just take a clipping from a plant, stick it in the ground and mirá! It grows! Impossible to believe that you don't need to start a plant in a glass of water, a pot with beautiful soil, or forget all that and just buy it from a nursery. But holy smokes, it's true!
And good thing too because the land we bought had suffered a lot of deforestation and we had grand dreams of permaculture, gardens, and all of that except....we didn't include it in the construction budget! So, we resorted to plant robbing - a great way to meet your community.
Driving around with a little truck and pair of shears, a backpack full of my great-grandmothers chocolate chip cookies as trade, and a Spanish/English dictionary was a great way to break the ice - by asking for clippings of beautiful plants. Now, everywhere I look I see my community, our friends, and guests that helped landscape our eco resort.
The best part of all that we have done though, is to see the animals come back like the aforementioned and picture above - agouti. They started showing up here about 2 years ago. They are so stinking cute scuttling about the property in search of seeds, flowers, sneaking into our compost pile, and evading predators. We joke that everything eats chicken so it's up to us to keep them safe and if you're a predator in the jungle, I am sure that agouti's are on the menu too.
Definitively meeting the criteria of an R.O.U.S., the agouti is an incredibly important part of the understory of the jungle eco system. As a primary seed disperser, they are well aware of how easy it is to landscape: simply place a seed in the soil and watch it grow. They are the size of a well fed guinea pig but with a strong hind end making them super fast on land to evade predators.
Seeing them on our property not only made us appreciate how totally adorable they are but also indicated how successfully we had restored the landscape. Granted, we have a long way to go but their presence is an encouraging sign that what we're doing is working. For them to thrive means there has to be sufficient habitat, food, and conditions needed to support them.
Though they are helping, along with the monkeys and others like squirrels and birds, we also have a reforestation project with our guests. From June through September our guests, especially kids on our badge program, can be a part of bringing this low wet forest back to life again.
So, if spotting cute wildlife, being surrounded by rich nature, and learning all about it while experiencing great daily adventures and powered by delicious foods is your idea of an awesome holiday, Morrillo Beach Eco Resort in Panama is all that.
It gets even better! You focus on your busy life and leave all the details to us with one of our all-inclusive packages. All you have to do is start dreaming about your next adventure in Panama. We'll take care of the rest!
With love from Panama,
Cari and Ryan Mackey
Owners & Hosts
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