Thursday, August 6, 2009

:D

First, let me say I'm ecstatic for a reason that has nothing to do with anoles. My mom's cousin is married to the sister of one of the journalists that was trapped in North Korea. I'm almost crying with joy that Laura and Euna are back with their families. Huge shoutout to the Clintons and Obama.

Ok, back to the lizards...
Yesterday was a fun time. 18 km along a road that has no sidewalk. It was quite a hike and we got honked at a lot but ultimately worth it. I think. We found a few aquatic anoles (different species than the day before). And a guy with a machete asking us what we were doing. He was a little creepy. Also, I am a terrible person. We found two anoles mating and after making 10 minutes of lizard porn, (we were told to get 10 minutes of behavior, whatever it is they're doing) we didn't have time to wait for them to finish. (An hour before lunch and 9 km to walk.) So we caught both of them, pulled them apart and put them in separate bags. Between that and the gecko tossing, I'm probably going to hell, a hell full of pissed lizards. On the upside, we did see a couple armadillos, an eagle (I think -- it was backlit) and a lobster on the trip. On the downside, we have to walk back there tomorrow.

I have mentioned before that there are bugs here. I apparently forgot that when I went out into the forest at dusk to put down predation models. Maybe the lizards hired the mosquitoes to take their revenge. One of the first clay models we put down actually got torn to pieces by a mammal, which is pretty exciting. Always nice when you actually get results from experiments. :)

Last night we went crocodile hunting (in the Steve Irwin sense). Note: not even DEET and long sleeves can prevent mosquito bites when you're hanging out in a swamp at night. We didn't catch any crocs or caimans while I was there. (After all but two people left, they got a caiman.) We may go again, though. Anthony has promised to find a small one for me to hold. Not sure if I'll do it. :) We did see to cat-eyed snakes on they way though. They're beautiful little snakes. It was also nice because it was basically the first group night herping outing we've had. The mix of personalities on the trip is pretty hilarious. We would make a great reality show if we actually talked during meals (usually just an effect of the exhaustion).

Anyway, yay for Laura and Euna! Hope you're all well. In the middle of another torrential downpour. Hopefully it'll stop some time. We need to do laundry like whoa and there's no dryer...

Summary:
- Laura and Euna are back from North Korea! (No, this does not have anything to do with lizards.)
- saw an armadillo, lobster and eagle; might not have been worth the walk
- croc hunting often means being hunted by mosquitoes
- rain

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