Tag Archives: 2016

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Pre-departure fugue

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The night before a big trip never phases me the way it should. I pack, I sleep, and the next day I find myself somewhere else and just roll with it. I always feel like I lack the appropriate level of enthusiasm (whatever that it), but it beats travel anxiety so I don’t worry about it too much. The enthusiasm returns once I’ve settled in, and all is well. I worry and pick over everything else but travel is like “well, I guess I’ll get there somehow.” Perhaps this is some kind of physiological adaptive response to environmental stressors…

I look forward to returning to Central America in biological pursuits once again. During my 5 week conservation trip in Panama I really only worked with two species– Loggerhead sea turtles (Caretta caretta) and Hawksbill sea turtles (Eretmochelys imbricata)–so the breadth of my experience is limited (a generous way of putting it). I feel like I’ve barely skimmed the surface of all there is to know tropical field biology. I’ve read all kinds of books and primary literature, looked at pictures and diagrams, even experienced it first-hand in some of my trips abroad but it still feels like I know squat. There is just too much cool stuff!

Speaking of too much stuff, fingers crossed that we don’t encounter anything I don’t have on my taxonomic ID cards. Annelids and hydroid identification is fairly simple, but amphibians are a whole other story. There is clearly one very good way to avoid detection by predators because there are some pretty similar-looking frogs out there. Also I worry that some of my sources may have been a bit dated (2000 isn’t that long ago, right?). I tried to mentally absorb as much information as I could from a bunch of sources in the hope that some of it will be useful. Despite all this I genuinely enjoyed reading about amphibians even though I’ve never had any particular interest in them before. I look forward to developing even more new interests during this trip.

Sophia Streeter

5-16

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Day 7

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On our last day at the Las Cuevas Research station, we spent most the morning and afternoon retracing our steps from the first day. All of this was in the effort to understand if species richness differed between natural and man-made clearings. I am proud to say that the hike was not nearly as exhausting as it was at the beginning. I also got the change to see an example of epiphytic Encyclia cochleata, the national flower of Belize. I think I have achieved my peak of epiphyte. It was one of the most satisfying moments of this trip to date.

After cleaning up and showering we went over to the classroom for taxonomic presentations, my presentation on NTDs/ethnobotany, and to look at what our camera traps caught. I really enjoyed my topic, especially because I had taken a research seminar in the previous semester on the topic. We then got into an interesting discussion on how Brazil should manage the threat of Zika and the upcoming influx of people for the Rio de Janiero Olympics.

Our pictures from the camera trapping experiment were a bit disappointing until we got the last one. On its memory card, we found both and ocelot and a WHAT WAS THIS. Overall, our data set was way to small to be able to really tell anything about the preferences of animals in the Chiquibul for man-made or natural clearings. All in all, these past experiment (while they don’t yield statistically significant data) are doing a great job of showing me how to trouble shoot ecological/evolutionary experiments.

On to Glovers Reef!

 

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Day 6

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Today was not a great day for epiphytes. This isn’t because they weren’t out there, but just because we spent most of the day inside. Our main project was to interpret the results of our pitfall traps. After collecting the vials, we headed back to the classroom to assess the morphospecies found. Our hypotheses focused on whether species abundance and richness were different in the canopy versus the forest floor and whether or not canopy species were more attracted to a nitrogen source (our urine).

The first question was more straightforward than the second. We could clearly see that both abundance and richness were greater for the forest floor. However, teasing apart the question of nitrogen limitation in the canopy versus the forest floor proved to be much more complicated. In the end, we choose to represent the difference between the by creating data points by subtracting the amount of arthropods in the water from the urine (for canopy and ground). Upon discussing the report with Scott and Adrienne, we found many ways in which our work could be improved upon. Two of the most crucial changes we made was to use a proportion rather than a subtraction and to pool all samples we took (broadening our community). This refining process is both interesting and productive; many new research directions came from our discussion.

At the end of the day, we all went on a night hike. The difference in number of species we saw was really noticeable. As for epiphytes, I certainly saw them, but am becoming more and more convinced that this group is hard to pin down for any specific geographical location. So many of the factors of what species ends up where is tied to the specific characteristics of the niches of the Chiquibul forest. In the future, I would be interested took look into the literature for information on niche exploitation by epiphytes. I think it would greatly increase my comprehension of the epiphyte landscape.

2016

Day 8: The bus saga continues…

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This morning, we got up early for a final hike before our 7 AM departure. At 7:30, the bus still hadn’t arrived. We called to discover that the bus hadn’t left yet, and was 4 hours away. We were scheduled to tour the ATM cave in the morning, but by the time we arrived we had missed our spot and wouldn’t have made it out of the cave until 7. To make matters more exciting, our bus driver decided that he was dropping us off with all our bags at the cave, and wouldn’t drive us all the way to our hotel as we had originally thought. We got a new bus driver, and stopped at a souvenir shop and ate lunch at a restaurant. I tried tamarind juice for the first time and it was delicious!

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Then, we drove to the Belize Zoo. We went on a night tour of the zoo, which was amazing. All of their animals are native to Belize, either rescues or animals in rehabilitation. We got to see jaguars, ocelots, pumas, and margays that we’ve been living with all week in the forest, but never actually seen. We got to feed a tapir named Indie, who was confiscated as a baby from the pet trade. We also saw an adorable pair of pacas, which are large rodents with similar size and coloration to baby tapirs. Pacas are hunted for their skin and meat, and hunters often accidentally shoot baby tapirs while hunting pacas.

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We didn’t do much hiking today, and I didn’t see any termites. Tomorrow I’ll be giving termites a rest and searching for red algae!

2016

Day 7: Our final chiquibul adventure

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Chiquibul

Today we collected the camera traps that we set out on the first day. It took us 10 hours to set out the traps the first time, but today we were done by 3 while taking a substantial lunch break. It’s amazing what a week in the jungle will do.

I didn’t see any new termite nests today, as we were walking a path we had travelled several times and didn’t stop much to poke around. We did, however, see some amazing species on the camera traps!

The first photo we looked at contained a bird, but most of the following pictures only captured leaves moving and people walking by. After sifting through hundreds of photos from 11 traps, we had seen 2 birds and a tapir. The tapir was awesome, but I think we had all been hoping to see more than 3 species. We weren’t expecting much from the 12th trap, which we had accidentally set up on top of a massive leaf cutter ant nest. To our surprise, this trap caught an agouti and an ocelot!! Those last photos definitely made the 26 miles of hiking worthwhile. We’ve heard about all of the species in the Chiquibul, but it was so incredible to see these species (almost) in person, and know that they crossed the same path that we did sometimes only an hour before.

Tomorrow morning, we will leave Las Cuevas. I’m covered in heat rash and I’ve been perpetually sleep deprived, but I feel so complete when I’m here. I have loved waking up to the sound of the howlers and being surrounded by the buzz of the jungle. I’m going to miss this place, but I know many amazing adventures await us on the reef!

2016

When vans are less reliable than big cat sightings

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This trip has seen a variety of transportation mishaps, but today took the cake. After a final morning walk, we were all set to leave for ATM cave at 7am. However, the van was not, as it had not even left its starting point, which was hours away. So we had some nice time to talk with other group members, get a presentation out of the way, and have lunch.

Finally the van appeared around noon and drove us to Georgeville, where we were to meet our tour guides for the ATM cave. However, upon arriving at the town, it became clear that it was too late to go to ATM cave (plus the bus driver wanted to drop us off and leave), so we instead stopped for lunch at the Orange Gallery, and then headed off (with a new driver) to the Belize Zoo.

The outlook was grim
The outlook was grim

The night tour of the Belize Zoo was one of the coolest things we have done so far. We got to each feed a tapir named Indy, and see two pacas, a Morlet’s crocodile, and many other species.

However, the best part of the zoo tour for me was the cats. We got to see four of the five species of cats that inhabit Belize (the jaguarundi is diurnal and thus was not out). We met a black jaguar named Lucky Boy, a very vocal ocelot, a small puma of the Belizean variety, a margay with ankles that can rotate 180 degrees to climb down trees, and another jaguar who did tricks. The Belize Zoo is an amazingly natural place that not only rescues individual animals, but also uses these individuals as ambassadors for conservation. Their pride in their natural heritage was truly inspiring!

Lucky Boy the jaguar
Lucky Boy the jaguar

2016

Final Forest Feels

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Today we took on the 14-mile hike to pick up the camera traps that we put out on Wednesday. We picked up seven traps before lunch, and five traps after. This time the trek went significantly faster and was much easier, though my full-leg red rash reappeared. I’m really hoping this won’t be a recurring issue in the future.

A strangler fig surrounds its host tree, eventually killing it and standing on its own
A strangler fig surrounds its host tree, eventually killing it and standing on its own

A few different species of mammals were seen today, most of which were caught in the camera trap images. Though I did not see it, apparently an agouti was seen by others in the group during morning bird watching. Some really exciting species were caught by the traps. Another agouti and an ocelot (!!!!) were caught by the same trap in a naturally open area, at different times. We also got a great picture of a tapir (endangered species) along a human path. Though the sample size of species in our camera trap images was small, all of this was still super exciting for me, especially the ocelot capture.

I also gave my mammal taxon briefing in the evening. This was my favorite of all the presentations to make and give, and I really enjoyed watching others using some of the information from my presentation in attempting to identify species in the camera trap images.

It’s pretty sad to have to leave this place. The rainforest is magical in the amount of life it holds, and even though I’ve barely slept all week, I’ve felt as strong as ever here. Hopefully I can return some day!

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Everything Goes Wrong (pt. 2)

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Mishaps and miscommunication have become somewhat regular on this trip, and today’s adventure was no exception. We were supposed to say our forlorn goodbyes to Las Cuevas and the Chiquibul at 7am this morning and set off for a day of archaeological exploration at the ATM Cave near San Ignacio. But in true TFB fashion, absolutely nothing went according to plan.

After several hours of suspense, it became evident that our van was nowhere near Las Cuevas. Instead of wasting away the morning though, we learned about the fascinating conservation issues surrounding endangered scarlet macaws in the Chiquibul and enjoyed a surprisingly tasty lunch of peanut butter and cheese sandwiches (see me for more details on said sandwich). Our trustworthy van and driver arrived only 5 hours after its scheduled arrival, and so we set off by noon for our next caving experience.

Alas, my hopes of spelunking were dashed; we skipped the ATM cave and instead enjoyed an afternoon of wifi, souvenirs, and fresh fruit juices of the Orange Gallery. Despite our misadventures, our day ended with an incredible nocturnal tour of the Belize Zoo.

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Morelet’s crocodile.

Among reptiles, we were shown both a Morelet’s crocodile (Crocodylus moreletii) and an American crocodile (Crocodylus acutus). The American crocodile was substantially larger and had a much longer snout, although both were definitely creatures to avoid in the dead of night. We were also able to see a boa constrictor (Boa constrictor), which paled in comparison to the boa we saw on day 1, as well as a Central American rattlesnake (Crotalus durissus) and a yellow-jawed tommygoff (Bothrops asper). Given that we didn’t find many of these species in the forest, this was a great opportunity to see them up close.

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Ocelot jumping to catch meat.

And in case the reptiles weren’t charismatic enough, we also had the chance to see the different cat species found in Belize and a Baird’s tapir. If you were wondering, a hungry ocelot sounds a bit like an angry housecat, jaguars can be trained to do somersaults, and tapirs enjoy being fed carrots.

2016

In Which We Go Back in Time

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Today we collected our camera traps, which gave us a chance to do the hike from the first day all over again. 13 miles is still a long way to hike in rainboots, long pants, and long sleeve shirts while the sun is hot and the air is muggy as heck. It was definitely easier than the first day though.

On the hike I learned some important things, like the power of duct tape and the necessity of tiny electrolyte packets you can put in your water. My feet are definitely hot and swollen today, but my blisters are not nearly as bad thanks to duct tape.

I saw one cool spider on the hike as well as a bunch of others scurrying underfoot. The cool spider I saw was sitting with its two back legs splayed and its front legs held together so they looked like one. It was sitting on the underside of a leaf with its red body and black and white legs standing out against the green background.

We analyzed the camera traps at night and saw a tapir in a mud wallow, a great currasow on a road, and an ocelot and an agouti in a leaf cutter ant nest clearing off the trail. Younger Clare would have flipped at seeing a camera trap she helped set up capture an ocelot. Honestly though, present-day Clare probably flipped more. I jumped up and down and squeaked for the tapir and the ocelot.

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Adios, Las Cuevas

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TFBs on the Monkey Tail Trail of the Chiquibul Forest.

Our final day at Las Cuevas began bright and early as always; we were out the door for our morning hike by 8am. We retraced our steps over 13 miles to collect our camera traps in record time, much more mentally prepared for the trail this time around. Though our picture count was low, we remained optimistic that our cameras had caught some animals (besides us). We also managed to spot what was most likely a Middle American ameiva (Ameiva festiva). I had never come across this lizard species before but was able to identify it using a field guide by its coloration. The lizard was about 12 cm long (which made it too long for an anole) and was a dark brown with white lines on its side broken into spots.

We had to wait until nightfall for the day’s real excitement: our camera trap analysis. The prospects seemed poor as we sifted through endless photos of ourselves or even of leaves flapping in the wind. But our first big find was a giant curassow, casually strolling past our camera in the middle of the road. Soon after, we discovered a picture of a Baird’s tapir, and the group cheered ecstatically at our first mammal sighting. Suspense rose as we tested the final camera; our expectations were low since it was placed in the center of a giant leaf-cutter ant nest. But to our surprise, the very last camera first held a photo of an indistinct rodent, which we guessed was an agouti. As we flipped through the final photos, the characteristic markings of a jungle cat suddenly appeared on the screen. Our final sighting was of an ocelot, one of the elusive large cat species of the Chiquibul.

Though our findings may have been few and far between, just the fact that we were able to capture such diverse species in four short days is incredible. And with that, a week in the Belizean rainforest is already done. Next stop: Glover’s Reef.