2/11/2010

It was a very long day today, and only the first of many. I got up at 530 to start checking traps by 6. We went through 8 of the 15 sites, and none of the traps had anything. There were a few shrews in the herp traps, but those aren’t rodents. So, empty handed, we returned to camp. Well, not exactly empty handed—we saw a leopard on the way back. It was very hidden in the bush, but we saw it nonetheless. We ID’d the shrews that we brought back, although even Graeme said he didn’t know what one of them was. So, we might be sending it in for identification. People hung around until about 1230, when lunch was served. After lunch we had an introduction to our insect collection, which is to be done only at Skukuza. My group is in charge of collecting many Neuroptera, which is the family antlions are in. Antlions are very hard to distinguish from dragonflies/damselflies once in flight, but when they land it’s easier. So woo. There are about 20 billion dragon/damselflies around. Not as many Neuroptera.
After the lecture, I FINALLY checked my email, after 2 weeks. Only 100 emails, which isn’t bad, and really none of them were pertinent. I may put up an announcement saying that I’ll be out of email contact when I go to the next two sites, but for now I’m fine. We don’t have internet here yet; due to unforeseen circumstances, the internet is down for the next few days. Grr. There is an internet café in “town” though, so I can do basic things. Nothing major yet, so by the time you read this post, I will have the other internet up and running :P
In the afternoon, we went back out to rebait the traps. I went to the other 7 sites this time, and I’m glad I did. This area is GORGEOUS. There sites were so much prettier than the ones I’ve been going to. While out, we saw baboons, kudu, a herd of hippos and ANOTHER leopard. This time we saw its head (last time it was only a back shot). I have pictures. After we were done, we went to sundowners at the lake. It was Dax’s birthday, and a couple of people had picked up a gift (rum shots in a bag and a wind up snake). We sang, and then came back for dinner, meeting, and bed. Word of the day: Head = Hloko