The 2023 Brazil Journals, Chapter Ten

 

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Chapter Ten

The Great Giant Anteater Search

 

Look at animals kindly, and they will see.

Talk to animals gently, and they will listen.

—A. D. Williams

 

 

 

Octavio urges us to hurry.   Our van driver, he says, spotted a giant anteater right alongside the road near Bonito.

 

We pile into the van as quickly as we can, and we’re off!  It’s Zero-dark-thirty and we meet much of the staff driving into the Hotel Cabanas yard as we pull out.

 

Could this be the magic day?   We’ve spent hours driving next to fields and pastures searching for the elusive anteaters.  I have no size reference, so every reddish brown boulder looks like a possible anteater to me.

Our first sighting yesterday and it was so far away we couldn't tell for sure if it's an anteater or a boulder.

 

The van pulls over and right next to us—less than 20 feet away—is a giant anteater walking next to a brick wall.  The plain light background sets off the animal well.   It’s sure better than dark foliage.

 

Octavio shines a light on the anteater as it moseys along.   We line up on the edge of the highway, cameras clicking away.  The animal is in no hurry as it walks.   I am struck by its contrasting markings—whitish front legs, a broad black stripe above that reaches to its spine, and an incredibly long bushy tail.

 

We watch as it reaches the end of the wall, enters some foliage and appears again on a side road.   Then it disappears up the dirt road.   

Neighborhood dogs are barking now, so we get back in the van and leave.

 

 

This afternoon, we are once again searching for giant anteaters, this time in the daylight.   We run into some cowboys from Rio da Prata Ecolodge where we have eaten lunch twice, and they offer some advice and permission to enter their pastures.

 

Octavio spots an anteater in the field.  We get out and walk across the pasture.   The cattle eye us suspiciously, then run away in a slow-motion stampede.   That alerts the anteater and it walks toward a copse of trees.

 

We get some so-so shots, enough to prove we actually saw one of these remarkable animals, but nothing to brag about.   It was pretty far away.   Darned tattletail cows.

 

A little farther down the road, Octavio spots another giant anteater and this one is as placid as the other one was nervous.  We get as close as we can in the van and then we walk.

 

The anteater, if it sees us, doesn’t seem to care.

 

We keep our distance.   We don’t want to frighten the anteater. We have long lenses so there’s no point in being really close.

 

But!   No one told the anteater we had long lenses and at one point, when I’m dragging a bit behind everyone, the animal comes right towards me.   It’s about 25-30 feet away when it becomes aware of my presence.

 

What tipped it off is beyond me.   They have poor eyesight and and so-so hearing but their sense of smell is highly developed.

 

It stops and lingers a while, turning its head from side to side and it tries to figure out what kind of cow I am, or if I’m friend or foe.   

 

They don’t have much to be wary of.   (Try writing that sentence and not end with a preposition!) With those three-inch long claws on their front paws, they can fight off pumas and jaguars.   And those claws, by the way, are protected when they walk by curling them back and under so they don’t get dulled by touching the ground.

 

We spend a lot of time with this animal and when the overcast opens to reveal the last afternoon sunshine, everything turns gold.   This is light that photographers crave—the Golden Hour, it’s called.

Three giant anteaters in one day!!

All in all, we saw six different giant anteaters during our stay at Hotel Cabanas.   Only the last one gave us any good opportunities for photos.

 

It’s our last night at Hotel Cabanas.   We have dinner in the lounge and once again, Gullible saves the day:

 

 

 For some very interesting facts about giant anteaters, follow this link:

https://seaworld.org/animals/facts/mammals/giant-anteater/