Today was a good day. I got to sleep in until 7:30am which is crazy late for me. Then I got my phenology done really quickly and had some time to kill so I decided to go walk on one of my favorite trails in the forest (K trail). K Trail has really tall nice trees. It runs right along the edge of a ridge and the wind is always blowing there so its a good place to cool off on a hot day. There are also a lot of large rocks jutting out over the cliff which make great spots to sit. I found one of these spots and just sat down for an hour and enjoyed being in the forest in the sunshine.
After I got back to the dorms, I chilled out during the hottest part of the day and watched a movie on my computer. Then I was feeling tired so I had a nap. After my nap, the other research assistant convinced me not to go back out to the field and instead go to the casona (the area of the park that has the war memorial, a small museum, and the iguana corral) with her. It is currently some sort of Guanacaste province appreciation month here and right now at the casona there is a photo exhibit that is showcasing photos taken here in guanacaste. We looked at the photos for a while and hung out in the old buildings. The pics were really pretty, and while I was there I noticed that the building was full of bats!! Bats are so cute. I love them. One of the bats yawned while I was watching it...then it stuck out its tongue. I also got to watch a baby bat nurse from its mom - all while hanging upside down. (btw - the bat in our bathroom has slept there every day for about a week now. ^____^ )
After the casona closed, we walked back to the dorms with a guy who works in the park. On the way back, we saw a group of monkeys race across the road. In the lead was Simba - the alpha female of the group CP (a group that I don't study). She had somehow killed a green parrot and was racing up a tree to eat it. All the other monkeys wanted to be her BFF - with the hopes that she would share (she didn't). Here is a video of her eating the parrot. (can you hear the food peeps?) This video sucks because a) the sun was setting, b) the monkeys were in a forest with poor visibility, and c) while i was filming, an ant started crawling on my shoulder and i had to get it before it bit me...that's why the camera moves at the end. oh well. its not every day you see a monkey eating a parrot. im just glad i caught it.
After we got back to the dorms, the other assistant and the guy who works at the park asked me to go with them and third guy to La Cruz - a town about 50km away from Santa Rosa. At first I didn't want to go because I was nervous that they would all speak spanish and i would feel kind of awkward. But they forced me to come with them and i'm glad I did. They were all really nice and included me in all of their conversations. I even understood a joke when they made one in spanish!! woo! As we were driving out of the park, the sun was setting. The sky was this crazy colour of red. We stopped at a lookout point and watched the sky for a bit. Eventually, we made our way to La Cruz and had food at a cool little seafood restaurant. I had a piece of fish and salad and french fries! Food at the dorms can get a little bet repetitive so I really enjoyed it. Plus it was my night to cook and I didn't have to!!! ha
We sat and talked for a bit after dinner and then made our way back home. By this point i was pretty tired, so i thanked everybody, said goodnight, and settled in for bed.
Wow - good thing that was the end of my day...cause this post is long!! Hope you enjoyed my photos.
<3 <3 <3
Day
Thursday, March 4, 2010
Wednesday, March 3, 2010
tayra trio
Today I was out counting trees in the forest and I stumbled upon 3 tayras climbing in a tree. This was my only third tayra sighting since I have been here and it made my day. The first time I saw one I was like "WTF IS THAT CRAZY THING?!" cause I had only seen them in photos and I didn't expect them to be so big! They are like giant 40-pound black ferrets.
Tayras are pretty shy around humans. Every time I have encountered one, they have hissed at me like a cat and run away really fast. Today was the first time I had ever seen 3 at once and it was awesome. I came across them while I was walking, and the wind was blowing so they probably didn't hear me coming. After I spotted one, I hung back and kind of ducked behind a big tangle of vines that was on the trail and watched it for a bit. Then I crept up closer to the tree it was climbing in. As soon as it saw me, it jumped to the ground and took off...but it didn't go very far because by that time I was near the trunk of the tree and was blocking its buddies from getting down. It stayed right out in the open on the path about 20 metres away from me and hissed and bobbed its head at me (big threats). The two that were left in the tree hissed at me too. I said "hi tayras!" out loud but that just made them hiss more. hehe.
After watching the two in the tree for a bit, I backed up to give them room to get down. As soon as they saw me retreating, they jumped to the ground and all three of them took off. It was so cool to be able to get up close to them. They were big! Sadly, every time I have seen a tayra in the forest I haven't had my camera with me. I should make a point of bringing it every day - just in case I see more cool things. The PHD student saw a really large puma the other day and I would love to catch one of them on film!
In conclusion, I would like to say that I like tayras, even though they don't like me.
The end.
This story was brought to you by me - Dayna!
Also - in non-tayra news, I found out today that I got invited to interview for vet school. That's one step closer. *fingers crossed*
Tayras are pretty shy around humans. Every time I have encountered one, they have hissed at me like a cat and run away really fast. Today was the first time I had ever seen 3 at once and it was awesome. I came across them while I was walking, and the wind was blowing so they probably didn't hear me coming. After I spotted one, I hung back and kind of ducked behind a big tangle of vines that was on the trail and watched it for a bit. Then I crept up closer to the tree it was climbing in. As soon as it saw me, it jumped to the ground and took off...but it didn't go very far because by that time I was near the trunk of the tree and was blocking its buddies from getting down. It stayed right out in the open on the path about 20 metres away from me and hissed and bobbed its head at me (big threats). The two that were left in the tree hissed at me too. I said "hi tayras!" out loud but that just made them hiss more. hehe.
After watching the two in the tree for a bit, I backed up to give them room to get down. As soon as they saw me retreating, they jumped to the ground and all three of them took off. It was so cool to be able to get up close to them. They were big! Sadly, every time I have seen a tayra in the forest I haven't had my camera with me. I should make a point of bringing it every day - just in case I see more cool things. The PHD student saw a really large puma the other day and I would love to catch one of them on film!
In conclusion, I would like to say that I like tayras, even though they don't like me.
The end.
This story was brought to you by me - Dayna!
Also - in non-tayra news, I found out today that I got invited to interview for vet school. That's one step closer. *fingers crossed*
Tuesday, March 2, 2010
ant attack
Out of all the ants in Costa Rica (and omg are there a lot of ants here), leafcutters are probably my favorites. They make these crazy highways through the forest and spend every night marching along them - looking for suitable leaves to bring back to their giant ant hills. They use the leaves to cultivate a fungus inside the hill - which is their main source of food. I love how they are such busy little farmers. work work work!
We currently have a colony of leafcutters that marches into our bathroom every night looking for water. After dark, there are literally thousands of ants marching along the wall - and then by morning they have all disappeared. Usually when they march, they stay in a nice orderly line that we just hop over to get inside the bathroom. But sometimes while we are cooking dinner, one of us will forget and put our foot in their trail. Then the ants get all confused and go everywhere. its annoying cause then they wander around and bite any feet that are standing nearby. ouch!
One time we dropped a cooked fusili noodle in their path. The ants cut it up into pieces and carried it off. it was funny to watch little pieces of noodle marching off into the forest. ^__^ Tonight, I will try to get a good video of the bathroom leafcutters for you to see. If I get one, I will add it to this post.
There are quite a few different types of leafcutters. The little teeny ones are in charge of growing the fungus gardens and tending to duties inside the ant hill. The middle sized ones are the workers who march along the highways and carry leaves around. Then there are the big giant huge ones - the soldiers. They patrol around and defend the colony from danger. They also do the heavy lifting and help to clear big debris from the ant highway. I have no desire to get bit by one of them...their jaws are HUGE!
the other day while in the forest, I came across a poor beetle that had wandered onto a leafcutter trail. The workers and soldiers had swarmed it and were cutting it apart while it was still alive. Of course, I took a video. (this site compresses the crap out of my videos and makes them lose a lot of their quality. boo). You can see how the ants have already removed the beetle's legs and its little leg stumps are wiggling around. gory!
*chomp chomp chomp*
<3 Day
We currently have a colony of leafcutters that marches into our bathroom every night looking for water. After dark, there are literally thousands of ants marching along the wall - and then by morning they have all disappeared. Usually when they march, they stay in a nice orderly line that we just hop over to get inside the bathroom. But sometimes while we are cooking dinner, one of us will forget and put our foot in their trail. Then the ants get all confused and go everywhere. its annoying cause then they wander around and bite any feet that are standing nearby. ouch!
One time we dropped a cooked fusili noodle in their path. The ants cut it up into pieces and carried it off. it was funny to watch little pieces of noodle marching off into the forest. ^__^ Tonight, I will try to get a good video of the bathroom leafcutters for you to see. If I get one, I will add it to this post.
There are quite a few different types of leafcutters. The little teeny ones are in charge of growing the fungus gardens and tending to duties inside the ant hill. The middle sized ones are the workers who march along the highways and carry leaves around. Then there are the big giant huge ones - the soldiers. They patrol around and defend the colony from danger. They also do the heavy lifting and help to clear big debris from the ant highway. I have no desire to get bit by one of them...their jaws are HUGE!
the other day while in the forest, I came across a poor beetle that had wandered onto a leafcutter trail. The workers and soldiers had swarmed it and were cutting it apart while it was still alive. Of course, I took a video. (this site compresses the crap out of my videos and makes them lose a lot of their quality. boo). You can see how the ants have already removed the beetle's legs and its little leg stumps are wiggling around. gory!
*chomp chomp chomp*
<3 Day
Monday, March 1, 2010
agoutis like fruit loops too
So here at the dorms, we get a lot of animal visitors. In the past few days, I have seen deer, bats, toads, bugs, and agoutis right outside my door. What is an agouti you ask? Well let me tell you.
Agoutis are these strange rodents that look like big guinea pigs with hoppy little back legs. They are super cute and aren't pests to humans at all. We always throw our vegetable waste onto the ground because the agoutis come by and eat it up for us. The other day I saw an inter-species interaction between an agouti and a giant toad. The agouti came up to the toad and they touched noses. Awwww!!!
Apparently there used to be more agoutis at the dorms but they started to disappear right around the time I arrived in Costa Rica. We had a big boa constrictor living under the stove at that time... perhaps there is some connection between the boa in the kitchen and the disappearance of the agoutis. such is the way of the forest I guess.
Anyway, the little dudes seem to be slowly returning - I have seen one every day this week. Apparently the agouti babies come right up onto the concrete and squeak sometimes. I hope I get to see a baby one before I leave.
Here is a video of the agouti that helped me to finish my fruit loops this morning.
*nom nom nom*
Day
Agoutis are these strange rodents that look like big guinea pigs with hoppy little back legs. They are super cute and aren't pests to humans at all. We always throw our vegetable waste onto the ground because the agoutis come by and eat it up for us. The other day I saw an inter-species interaction between an agouti and a giant toad. The agouti came up to the toad and they touched noses. Awwww!!!
Apparently there used to be more agoutis at the dorms but they started to disappear right around the time I arrived in Costa Rica. We had a big boa constrictor living under the stove at that time... perhaps there is some connection between the boa in the kitchen and the disappearance of the agoutis. such is the way of the forest I guess.
Anyway, the little dudes seem to be slowly returning - I have seen one every day this week. Apparently the agouti babies come right up onto the concrete and squeak sometimes. I hope I get to see a baby one before I leave.
Here is a video of the agouti that helped me to finish my fruit loops this morning.
*nom nom nom*
Day
stink-berries
The last few days have been really good. The weather has been nice, the work has been enjoyable, and i have just felt really happy. Right now the PHD student is on his holiday in Nicaragua and I get to do phenology while he is away. I can't remember if i explained phenology or not last month... so you get to hear about it again. lucky you!! Basically, i have to walk around the forest and find specific trees. Once found, I have to record the number and maturity level of all leaves, fruits, and flowers on the tree. Over time this helps researchers get a good idea of what fruits come into season at what time of year - and how it affects the monkeys.
Phenology is pretty tedious because I have to find over 200 trees! the good thing is, I don't need to listen for monkeys so I am able to take my ipod into the field and listen to music. Music makes everything better think - and right now I am super stoked on the most recent album by Shout Out Out Out Out that I bought off iTunes before I left. I don't know why I didn't listen to it before - its sooo good!!
For me, music can really help me to imprint a memory in my head. Years from now if I ever listen to this album, it will take me right back to Santa Rosa and monkeyschool and all the happy feelings I am having right now. I love how my brain does that!
Smells also help me to remember things. Its strange how sometimes you will smell something and it will trigger a really intense memory. And right now the forest smells frakken awesome! There is this tree called Guazuma ulmifolia and it has these fruits that look like big wooden blackberries growing on it. The berries smell great and they are absolutely EVERYWHERE right now. They make the forest smell sweet and delicious. I love it. Too bad you couldn't smell things through the internet so you could enjoy it too. Actually, scratch that idea. I can imagine way too many situations where that would just be totally incredibly wrong. haha
Ok that's all for this post!
<3 <3
Dayna
Phenology is pretty tedious because I have to find over 200 trees! the good thing is, I don't need to listen for monkeys so I am able to take my ipod into the field and listen to music. Music makes everything better think - and right now I am super stoked on the most recent album by Shout Out Out Out Out that I bought off iTunes before I left. I don't know why I didn't listen to it before - its sooo good!!
For me, music can really help me to imprint a memory in my head. Years from now if I ever listen to this album, it will take me right back to Santa Rosa and monkeyschool and all the happy feelings I am having right now. I love how my brain does that!
Smells also help me to remember things. Its strange how sometimes you will smell something and it will trigger a really intense memory. And right now the forest smells frakken awesome! There is this tree called Guazuma ulmifolia and it has these fruits that look like big wooden blackberries growing on it. The berries smell great and they are absolutely EVERYWHERE right now. They make the forest smell sweet and delicious. I love it. Too bad you couldn't smell things through the internet so you could enjoy it too. Actually, scratch that idea. I can imagine way too many situations where that would just be totally incredibly wrong. haha
Ok that's all for this post!
<3 <3
Dayna
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