About the Yellow-blotched Palm Pit Viper
Stealth is a colored-pencil portrait by Michael E. Dorcas of a Yellow-blotched Palm Pit Viper (Bothriechis aurifer) emerging from darkness.
I have spent considerable time in Costa Rica and Guatemala searching for reptiles and amphibians, including various species of palm pit vipers, but I have never encountered this species in the wild. The Yellow-blotched Palm Pit Viper occurs in the forests of southern Mexico and Guatemala and represents exactly the kind of secretive and beautifully camouflaged snake I love to find. Maybe one day…
In Stealth, I wanted the snake to appear gradually from the darkness. The vivid green and yellow scales, patterned eye, and angular head emerge against the black paper, emphasizing both the extraordinary beauty and intricate detail of the animal.