I am enthused to report that fieldwork has actually happened
– woo! Despite bureaucratic setbacks, full moons, rain, roadblocks, a
transportation worker strike, and an entire day spent crying like a baby, I
made it to three sites (don’t ask me how many I had planned – I set my expectations
irrationally high, haha).
My first site, Carmen Pampa, was a great learning
experience. My two excellent field assistants, Oswaldo and Adalid, provided
countless laughs and tremendous patience with my inexperience, despite our
5:00am quitting time on night one. The entertainment continued when Amy and I
decided to keep lists of fieldwork hygiene fails and pop songs re-written with
batty lyrics.
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| Our line-up for night one - 25 bats sampled! Special thanks to my mom, my aunties Dyanne and Kathy, my cousin Maria, and my hairdresser Emily for sewing, like, 500 bags! They were well-loved! |
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| Working hard, learning some bat ID tips from Oswaldo |
Site two, the Santa Cruz Botanic Gardens, brought a series
of ups and downs. We caught a handsome Noctilio
albiventris, met a peccary named Anita, and had a chance to work with one
of the most knowledgeable bat biologists in Santa Cruz, Aidee Vargas.
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| Here's the handsome man! |
Aidee taught me lots of new tricks, and she got to take
PREDICT samples (blood, saliva, etc.) for the first time. I also committed the
dumbest offense ever and left my mist nets at home on day two, losing the most
important bat-catching hours of the night. Hopefully that mistake is out of my
system now!
After Jardin Botanico, I lost Amy to Machu Picchu (I guess I
can’t hold that against her…) but continued on to San Matias with Aidee and a
new assistant named Yerko. San Matias is just outside of the Bolivian Pantanal
wetland, along the Brazilian border. A high crime rate didn’t blemish the town
for me at all though, because the bats were brilliant!
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| Hey - I went to Brazil for a sec! |
In three days, we caught 12 species, three of which belong
to the rarest bat families in Bolivia. We also caught my favorite guy so far –
a tiny Rhynchonycteris naso, with
beautiful coloration on his arms and the calmest demeanor of any bat so far. We
caught him early in the evening as he was flying above the water. So, not only
was he the cuddliest, but I got to swim to him, a delightful reprieve from the
hellish heat of the region.
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| Retrieving the cutie from the mist net |
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| Sweetest bat ever! |
I am still holding on hopes for a fourth site, but with
everything set except an important signature, it’s not looking good. Today I’ll
have an answer…
