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Activity Patterns of a Neotropical Ambush Predator: Spatial Ecology of the Fer‐de‐lance (Bothrops asper, Serpentes: Viperidae) in Costa Rica

Patterns of movement and space usage are important components of the ecology of any organism. Among snakes, this information is often lacking even for species that are abundant, ecologically important, and/or relevant to human health. We used radiotelemetry to examine the spatial ecology and behavior of the fer‐de‐lance (Bothrops asper), a highly venomous pit viper that is ubiquitous throughout much of Central America. Sixteen adult snakes were tracked over 2 yr in lowland rainforest of Costa Rica to determine home range, movement patterns, and foraging behavior. Consistent with previous descriptions, B. asper was found to be a highly nocturnal ambush predator, exhibiting virtually no activity during the day. Overall home range was determined using both minimum convex polygon (mean size = 5.95 ha) and 95 and 50 percent kernel density (mean size = 3.71 and 0.370 ha, respectively); home range size did not differ between males and females by any estimation method. Movement pattern was largely aseasonal and unrelated to any observed environmental conditions other than the daily low temperature. Most movements consisted of short (< 10 m) movements between daytime shelter and nocturnal ambush sites within a given area, interspersed with longer distance (> 50 m) movements to new foraging areas. Compositional analysis of habitat usage indicated an avoidance of developed areas and selection of swamp habitat. Most snakes had several activity cores (50% kernel density), the majority which were in or near swamps. These patterns suggest that space and habitat usage of fer‐de‐lance may be related to foraging strategy.