Our lodge is named after the
"Tayra" (
Eira barbara), a dark brown to black fox-sized mammal
usually seen running up and down tree trunks and along tree branches in search of prey. The tail is long and bushy, and the head may be black,
dark brown, or light grayish in contrast to the dark brown body. Tolomuco is the common name in Costa Rica. Tayras (Tolomucos) appear to fill an
ecological niche as predator similar to that of the Fisher, an arboreal fox-sized member of the weasel family in boreal forests onthe Northern
United States and Canada.
The Tayra is active throughout the day. Its relentless hunting behavior occurs on the ground and in trees. Prey includes just about
anything smaller than a White-tailed Deer - figs, fruits, domestic poultry, sloths, squirrels, agouties, pacas, mice, rats, lizards,
wild birds, and eggs. This mammal is usually solitary. Ocasionally they are also encountered in pairs or females with young, and
they might even hunt in groups of up to twenty individuals.
Habitats occupied by the Tayra range from dry and riparian forests of Guanacaste to wet
lowland forests of the Caribbean and Southern Pacific slopes. It also exists at higher elevations throughout the mountains of Costa Rica.
Habitat include farms, plantations, and undisturbed forest.
The Tayra makes its den in a hollow tree, hollow log, or sheltered burrow.
It has one to three young after a gestation period of sixty-five to seventy days. When the young are two months old,
the female teaches them to hunt.
