Bats in the Mist (Brazil Day 5)

I survived the prop plane flight! The view was actually very nice and from above there were lots of animals that looked so still they looked like little toys.

Met with the site coordinator, the woman in charge of the Peccaries, and the guy in charge of the bats. They all had long presentations to give, and the bat one was toughest because he doesnt speak much English. Being here in the Pantanal though is WAY different because there are very few Brazilians to interact with, and 6 out of 8 of the people we are working with speak perfect English. So I am afraid my gains in Portuguese will suffer unless i speak to one of the 2 researchers in Portuguese or with the little children of the farmers.

Speaking of farmers- that is what the Pantanal rainforest is being deforested from! I picture big cities and need for wood as reasons why we chop down the rainforest, not creating farmland. They are cattle ranches and soy farms. The cattle are sold here (don't i know it- every meal thus far has involved beef) but 99% of Brazilians dont eat soy, so it is all for exporting...

Anyways, last night we had to put together a schedule involving 10 days and 10 people who needed to be randomly distributed amongst 4 different projects and randomly paired off with each other as much as possible. They left it up to us how to figure that out, and I was up for that math problem! It came out almost perfect- so if I contribute nothing else for the rest of the trip, they used my strengths at least once...

Day one of the actual research and I am on bats. We drove off road to a spot in the forest (finally a valid need for a truck or SUV, not like Bostonians driving to Whole Foods in Brighton). We picked out some spots a few yards in and set up the nets (like putting up a 5-tiered volleyball net), which took about an hour (untangling them was very hard). We left them closed and come back tonight to open them when the bats mist and measure them as they fly in. So yeah, this is the type of research I am doing...

When we do the pecaries, we will be tracking them with radio collars. People say the pecaries smell horrible because they have evolved a 10 cm stench gland near their anus. Who knows why, but probably because they dont taste as good to their predators after said smell. People say its awful, but these same people haven't worked chem labs with Butyric acid (my former chemistry students can attest to this being the most rotten, pungent smell on earth). So that's one thing i'm not worried about.

Finally they give us a bonus day with the coastal waterlife in the fresh waters.

Some other random thoughts:

I have been at the pool every free chance i get during the day. A beatle did try to swim into my belly button- I never thought about it before, but I think the is the first time I have ever seen a swimming bug. Besides a lobster of course. And yes, I have been wearing sunscreen.

The rainforest is really not as thick as I had imagined it. There are some thick parts, but lots of natural occuring plains. Hence the cattle ranching. But because of climate changes, they have needed to cut down forest to make more plains. Thats the main problem.

On the first day, the lady said never to leave your door open when you go out because when you come back there might be an armadillo in your bed. We thought she was joking or exaggerating, but it turns out there really are a bunch of armadillos walking around this camp!

Its winter here and it is 70 degrees. Just thought I'd mention. Number of shorts I brought: 2.

I said I wouldnt mention her again because she is one of the old, boring ones, but this woman Sherry rushes to the computer every time we get a free minute! It has made getting on here way more difficult, but not as difficult as in the hotel when a young girl was on chat and instand messenger for 5 hours until 1 am with no designs of stopping.

Everyone else has turned out to be very cool, even with the misgivings I had mentioned before.

Thats all for now I think. In one half hour I am going out into the forest to open some nets. Gene is worried about vampire bats, I just hope there are no tarantulas! Until next time...