The bushmasters of the genus Lachesis are icon pitvipers of the Neotropics. They are the largest pit-vipers and the only oviparous pit- vipers in the western hemisphere. In a new paper Padrón et al. (2022) describe the first multiple-month study on home range and habitat use by a small group of bushmasters in Brazil’s Atlantic Forest in the Reserva Ecologica Michelin in Bahia, Brazil. They describe the radio-tracked snakes as Lachesis spp. because the Atlantic Forest population is likely distinct from other described species of Lachesis. Five snakes were radio-tracked in a mosaic of plantations and fragments of Atlantic Forest. The average home range was 9.47 ha for bushmasters tracked for more than six months. The macrohabitats were primarily composed of partially logged primary and secondary forests as well as rubber tree plantations with dense understory vegetation. Activity centers were closer to the forest edge (~ 22 m) than the core of the small forest fragments. The snakes mostly occupied wooded microhabitats with complex vegetation structures, about 50% under- and mid-story cover. Nocturnal ambush sites differed from diurnal resting microhabitats. The ambush sites were closer to mammal trails and in more open understory. Mammal burrows and refugia under roots, rocks, and the forest floor were used for diurnal resting.
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