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5/23: Sacrifices and Speckled Owls

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Today was my favorite day so far!! I thought it would be on the more boring side, since it is a lot of traveling, but OMG. First off all the bus ride is so beautiful and peaceful despite all the bums. I could stay on it forever just listening to music and imagining I’m in a music video. When we arrived at our destination, the ATM caves, I didn’t know what to expect, but it turned out to be the most amazing experience ever! we spent over three hours exploring a HUGE Maya cave. There were parts so deep that we had to swim through and parts so tight that we had to climb and squeeze through a small hole one by one. We learned about the natural processes that created the cave formations from limestone and saw several bats and their homes. Most exciting, we saw several human bones, including skulls! These skeletons are thought to be remains from human sacrifices made to the gods for rain and abundance. We also saw the pots and “fireplaces” they had and learned how they use them in ceremonies. Its crazy to think how different their lives were from anything we can possibly imagine.

After the caves, we went to the education center to stay the night. We got a night time tour of the zoo and got to see so many iconic animals of the belize forests, including jaguars, tapirs, and kinkajous.  We saw a wild iguana with its tail bitten off and it jumped and ran after us! My favorite animal that we saw was hoodwink, a speckled owl. we was bred and kept in captivity until a few years ago when a hurricane hit and he escaped. Missing his pampered lifestyle, he returned 4 months later, but with a girlfriend. Now the girlfriend visits him every mating season, even though they can never be together because he is domesticated in a cage and she is wild. So cute. Tomorrow we leave for Glover’s reef! I can’t wait!

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Day 8: Adventures in the dark

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We left Las Cuevas this morning. After all the amazing animals and plants we saw, I think I could have spent the whole trip at the station exploring the rainforest, but I’m also excited to see what the reef has in store for us. We started the morning with a 3-hour drive out of the forest reserve to ATM cave. On the way, we passed through a massive tree farm where they were growing mahogany, cedar, cohune palm, and soursop, among other things. They were clearing land and burning logs to enrich the soil in the region—it was interesting to see, although from my research I know that method is imperfect.


At ATM cave, there was a short hike which was easy relative to the hiking we’d been doing on a wide path lined with balsa trees and several other interesting plants such as wild ginger. There were several shallow river crossings which were a preview of what was to come: in the cave, we started out by swimming for a short stretch and then wading through the cave. We got to see tons of artifacts and even human remains. Apparently the chambers became used for ritual purposes aim an attempt to secure good rain and, as drought impacted the Maya, they moved deeper and deeper into the cave in a desperate attempt to save their society. The most amazing thing, to me, was almost all of the remains and artifacts had been calcified to the cave, cementing them in the structure of the floor. It sort of seemed like they were being reclaimed by the cave. It’s difficult to describe, and pictures weren’t allowed, but if you’re curious I believe one of the more complete skeletons we saw was featured on the cover of Natural Geographic.

We got to the Tropical Education Center, the ecolodge we’ll be staying at tonight, around dinner time. After dinner, we had a night tour of the zoo and we got to see tons of nocturnal animals. It was exciting to see many animals we didn’t get to see in the rainforest. My favorite was the kinkajou—so cute! It rained a bit while we were at the zoo. Maybe the rainy season is finally beginning?

Tomorrow is another travel day—most of it will be the ferry to Glover’s Reef. It begins the exciting second part of the course and I’m so curious and excited to see what’s in store. You’ll be hearing a lot more from me about cryptobenthic fish, that’s for sure.

A spectacled owl
A kinkajou!
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Caves, Culture, and Creatures: A Day of Firsts in Belize

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Today was full of adventure, from swimming into a sacred cave to spotting wildlife under the stars. We left Las Cuevas early and made our way to the Tropical Education Center, but not before stopping at the famous ATM (Actun Tunichil Muknal) cave. Getting inside meant swimming through the entrance and squeezing through narrow rock passages. It was intense but completely worth it—I loved every minute.

Inside the cave, we saw ancient Mayan pottery and even human remains from ritual sacrifices. Standing in the same space where ceremonies happened centuries ago was surreal. I’ve always found the Mayan culture fascinating, but seeing these artifacts up close added a whole new level of respect and wonder. It felt like stepping into history.

After settling in at the Tropical Education Center, we ended our day with a night visit to the Belize Zoo. I’d never been to a zoo at night before, and seeing nocturnal animals active under the moonlight was such a cool experience. We saw tapirs, wild cats, snakes, and more—but the highlight for me, as someone studying birds, was an owl that called out and actually attracted another owl in response. Watching that interaction felt like witnessing a private moment in the bird world.

Between ancient rituals and modern wildlife, today was unforgettable. Whether we were deep underground or walking through the zoo at night, Belize continues to surprise me with its history, biodiversity, and magic.

2022

The Reptiles of Belize Zoo (Day 8)

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Hi all, it’s Faith with Day 8 updates from the 2022 Belize trip!!!I dropped my phone in a line of lead cutter ants!!! But, a lot happened before that, so let me tell you!

This morning we woke up and had to say goodby to Middle Key, it was really sad, but we knew it was coming. The boat ride back to the the mainland was 3.5 hours, and then we waited at the Calypso restaurant for 2.5 hours trying to get lunch. What a chaotic start to traveling…

After stopping at a convenience store to restock on snacks, we arrived at the Tropical Education Center and Belize Zoo! The cabins we stay in here are so cute!!!

We quickly set our stuff down then headed up to the classroom for a presentation from Dr.  about his research on Scarlett Macaws. He was super informative about the species, and explained to us how important the Chiquibil is to their breeding and how crucial the red band area is for their foraging. His research clearly has many practical applications for conservation biology and informs us about were we should allocate preservation efforts.

In between dinner and the zoo, I noticed a few reptiles at the TEC, but none of them were living. The TEC classroom has Hickatee shells (Dermatemy mawii) , and two preserved snakes on display. The two snakes are a fer-de-lance (Borthops asper) and a jumping viper (Atropoides nummifer). Additionally, a sign in the kitchen gave me hope: 2 Hickatees were seen last week in a pond. I might get to see one of the critically endangered Central American river turtles!

After dinner, our group took trucks to the Belize zoo where we got a taste of the Belizean forest’s biodiversity. We saw “nomming” ocelots, rolling jaguars, climbing ant-eaters, Mexican raccoons (coatimudnis), and a tapir! We got to feed the tapir, and as I was grabbing the carrot from our guide, I dropped my phone into a trail of leafcutter ants! I was terrified. (Thankfully Dr. Correa kindly retrieved it for me).

The Belize Zoo also provided me the opportunity to see many reptiles that I might not get to see in the wild. The first reptile we saw was the American Saltwater Crocodile (Crocodylus acutus); he was a massive 13.5 feet! This crocodile was older than me, and he was relatively calm. He laid unbothered in the water until our guide tossed a piece of chicken for him to munch; he moved very fast in pursuit.

Later on in the reptile cages, we saw a live tommygoff (Borthops asper), Boa constrictor, and a Chicken/rat snake (Spilotes pullatus). The tommygoff was curled up in a ball inside a dark log, so I couldn’t get a clear picture of it. However, the boa constrictor and chicken snake were both out on top of logs, so I have added their pictures below. This boa constrictor was actually quite small, but his patterning was the perfect example with dark and light brown spots. Likewise, the rat snake had a beautiful pattern, and the lack of red scales indicated that he was a Chicken/rat snake and not a Yellow-red rat snake.

Now that we are away from glovers, we won’t see any more echinoderms. I’m just glad I got to post a sea star for you all.

Till Tomorrow!!!

QOTD: “It’s like edgy sprite”

The internet here won’t let me upload photos, so I’ll have to add them at Las Cuevas. :'(

Chicken Snake at Belize Zoo, Spilotes pullatus
Boa Constrictor at Belize Zoo
Crocodylus acutus (American saltwater crocodile) at Belize Zoo!
2022

The Belize Zoo!

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Hey guys! Once again, it’s Michiel : )

Today started out with us leaving Glover’s Reef! I’m sorry to leave it, but I’ve been really excited for this new part of our class. We had breakfast at 7, then everyone kept getting ready for the journey until about 9 (during that time I finished the book I was reading  – Ghost Story by Peter Straub). At 9, we boarded the boat and began to depart from the reef. Faith and I had a really fun time while that was happening, because we got emails regarding our CHEM TA applications at that time, which we had to respond to, but the wifi from the island was getting further and further away. We were both able to respond before we lost connection, though : ).

The boat ride lasted about 4 hours. The majority of us fell asleep for most of the trip, but there were a couple of times that everyone was up to look for some dolphins (I didn’t get to see any). Also, a lot of people said that they had seen flying fish as we were leaving. Anyway, we got back to Belize City around 1, and we had lunch at Calypso, which is a restaurant right on the dock that we docked at. Then, we went to a grocery store, where I bough lots of items that I started running low on while we were on the island, and Ava and I both got a Klondike Bar, which was a wonderful treat for the both of us.

Later, we got to the Tropical Education Center, which is beautiful. The trails here are wonderful to walk on, and the cabanas are delightful to stay in. I’m really sad that we’re only staying here for one night. We were also given a presentation by Dr. Boris Arevalo on Scarlet Macaws. The data he presented was really interesting, but he masterfully weaved in advice throughout the presentation about doing research and continuing in our careers, which really motivated a lot of us to do incredible work in our futures. After the presentation, we had dinner, then we went to the Belize Zoo for a night tour! It was amazing. I saw a lot of my taxanomic group (mammals), including jaguars (Panthera onca), a puma (Puma concolor), an ocelot (Leopardus pardalis), a margay (Leopardus wiedii), white-lipped peccaries (Dycotiles pecari), a tapir (Tapirus bairdii), a paca (Agouti paca), and a northern tamandua (Tamandua mexicana). The jaguars would roll over and climb trees so that the zookeeper would feed them pieces of chicken (and one of them was named Lindo), and the ocelot made a really funny noise as it ate the chicken that literally sounded like “nom nom nom.” Also, we got to feed the tapir some carrots and feed it! It was adorable.

I’m really glad we saw all these species today, and I hope we get to see more at Las Cuevas. Here are some pictures I took during the tour!

Baird’s Tapir (Tapirus bairdii) Thank you Ava for taking this picture!
Puma (Puma concolor)
Jaguar (Panthera onca)
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Day 8: Our Mini Weekend

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Blog Post #8

Day 8: Our Mini Weekend

Written May 23rd at 7:06 am

 

Yesterday (May 22nd) was a super start to our mini weekend. We spent it in transition from Turf to Surf, and did a few fun things along the way. No amphibians (or sponges) were spotted today because we were mostly in the cave or in the sun–two environments where neither of those are found.

After a bittersweet goodbye to Las Cuevas and the staff, we hopped on a plane and headed east for 3 hours. Then we reached the ATM Cave–its English translation is “The Cave of the Stone Tomb.” There was a 45 minute swim/wade in to the cave then we climbed barefoot.

The most interesting thing we saw was a nearly intact skeleton of a 16-18 year old–the namesake for the cave. Likely, this person was a human sacrifice for when the Maya civilization was in trouble, and they were desperate to please their gods.

Then we made our way to the Tropical Education Center, our home for the night. They put us in the adorable forest cabanas and fed us a lovely meal.

That night, we got the opportunity to get a night tour of The Belize Zoo! Of course, I LOVED it. There were so many species and wonderful nocturnal life. The highlight for me: Meeting Indy the Tapir.

We fed him carrots and watched his little nose trunk. He was SO CUTE!!!! What a great end to our night.

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Indie, the cutest tapir

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Daily Blog Entry 8:

We woke up for a 5 o’clock breakfast today to leave Las Cuevas. I was glad to leave the mites, chiggers, and the constant fear of insects falling on me. However, I was sad to leave the place where I got to become more comfortable with insects, my fellow TFBs, and lowering my standards of hygiene. I fell asleep until we stopped by a general store at Santa Elena before we headed to the Actun Tunichil Muknal (ATM) cave. We got there and left the vans at around 10 o’clock. We swam across a river, walked across another river, and had a 17-ish minute walk to finally reach the cave.

The inside of the cave was incredible. We saw multiple ceramic pieces partially swallowed by the ground, and I couldn’t believe that the artifacts were not harmed by looters or removed by archeologists. The most interesting find were the human sacrifice remains, including the near-intact skeleton at the very end of the cave. The other remain had a very neat skull where I could visibly see the slanted forehead and the remaining tooth.

After we got out of the cave and had lunch, I had a bit of a mishap, but it was all good once I got into the van. We were in the van for about an hour and a half, so I bolted out of the van as soon as we got to the Tropical Educaiton Center (TEC) to go pee. I ran around the TEC trying to figure out where the bathroom is when I saw two different agoutis. That was pretty interesting.

Once we finished eating dinner, we rode on the back of the pickup truck to go to the Belizean zoo. I got a boa constrictor on my neck, and her name is Queen Green. (I am scared of Queen Green) I think the most surprising things were how small Central American jaguars are, how funky the ocelots sound, how strange the gibnut looks, and HOW CUTE TAPIRS ARE. I was ecstatic that I got to pet Indie the Tapir. We could tell that he was very excited by the food we were giving him. I’m just happy that I got to pet them.

Ants. We’re not in Las Cuevas but we’re still not in Glovers, so here’s my taxon mojo:
At the end of the tour of the zoo, we saw a lot of small winged insects on the floor. Scott picked up one of the insects and it was a queen fire ant. The other insects were on their mating swarm as well.

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Back to Land :( (Day 8)

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Today was another travelling day. We left Glover’s in the morning to head back to the mainland. We did one last snorkel on the way back through the mangroves at Twin Caye. There, we saw a manatee, a yellow seahorse, a magnificent feather duster worm, and a lot of upside down jellyfish. I also saw some Caulerpa algae, and many of the algae species I’d seen around the patch reefs.

A seahorse found in the mangroves. His coloration makes him look a lot like a dead mangrove leaf!

The other place we stopped on the way back was Carrie Bow Caye, the Smithsonian Research Center. It was cool to meet the volunteer station manager, Clive, and hear about the research going on there.

Once we got back to the mainland, we went back to the Tropical Education Center where we are staying again tonight. We spent the evening at the Belize Zoo and got an amazing tour. We saw five big cats, including a jaguar that did somersaults for us. We also fed a tapir and two crocodiles.

The Tapir we fed at the zoo.

The last thing we did tonight was talk with Lucrecia, who is in Belize to do cat research and took EBIO 319 last year. It was good to see her because we ran cross country together in the fall but she spent the spring semester in Tanzania, and it sounds like she has been doing some really cool stuff.

Tomorrow we are going to a cave. I’m sure it is going to be awesome, but I’m still a little sad that we aren’t at the reef anymore.

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Belize zoo

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Today we experienced some unforeseen vehicular complications but we all came our the other side as weathered tfb’s (tropical field biologists). We’re spending the night at this beautiful lodge right next to the Belize zoo. Last night we were taken on a night tour of the zoo to see all the nocturnal animals at their most active. This meant jaguars, a puma, an ocelot, a margay, paca, and a tapir. It was truly incredible, I feel very lucky to have gotten to get so close to these beautiful big-cats. The jaguars have huge heads to crush their prey’s skull, but you can’t appreciate how big and powerful they are until they’re right in front of you. I couldn’t wipe the smile off my face.

Tomorrow we make our way out to Glovers reef! Soon I will be updating you on annelids rather than amphibians (still no more of those by the way). If you are curious as to what those are, I’d look up christmas tree worms and social feather dusters. Those are my favorites and they are not at all what you would expect worms to look like, they’re actually quite beautiful.

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Sophia Streeter

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