Mother nature tried to rain my research team out this weekend, throwing at us the likes of unending side-swiping showers and even hail. But our enthusiasm to get back to the Warren farm to check our soot traps and motion-sensor camera could not be thwarted!
For the first two hours after arrival were spent trekking through sloppy mud puddles looking for signs of mammal presence. Though t
he weather had knocked out most tracks left over the wet weekend, we were able to locate several moose prints and some coyote scat in the woodland area. Lara, one of our instructors, ventured with us through the corridors as we desperately scrutinized the landscape for animal markings. There was little to no success with that in the farm area. To change gears, we excitedly pulled our soot traps from their hiding spots, only to receive more disappointing news; the rain had all but dissolved any trace of mammal activity in the traps. While we were happy to notice that the small mammal trap boasted some claw marks and scat deposits, the copious pork fat bait and soot covering were seemingly untouched in our larger trap. With that, we parted ways with Lara and decided to take our lunch break, that we might reconvene with a master plan. This is what occurred the second half of our day, after a midday visit to the local Harvest Basket grocery store:
After lunch, armed with a new arsenal of fishy catfood, cheap peanut butter and a good ol' sterno can, we trekked back to the farm, where it was already rainin again, to try our hand at re-sooting the mammal traps. We'd been told by Dan Gardoqui that the larger the flame the better, but smaller flames like candles would still produce good, but slow, results. Under the semi-shelter of a canopy, we lit our sterno, and spent quite a while trying to accumulate soot, but to no avail. The minimalists (ak
a poor, material-deficient graduate students) that we are, we resorted to using mud in place of soot on the small animal trap. Because we really wanted the advantages of actual soot, Lizzy made a call to her boss at the UNH greenhouse to see if he would let us use his blowtorch, which he happily did. So Lizzy and Matt took the trap over there to blow-torch-ify it while Leah and I stayed behind to deal with the motion sensor camera situation.
When we first arrived back to the farm after the long weekend, we could see right away that the camera had captured six pictures. Of what, though, we were unsure. We were extremely hopeful that even just one would boast a photo of wildlife. However, Leah and I discovered the unforunate truth; every picture was of one of our roving classmates! Oh well. So we moved the camera to another spot deeper in the woods where mammal activity seemed high. Hopefully we will capture something of note that I can report on in the next few days!
The most interesting story of the day involves Lizzy and Matt's excursion to use the blow torch. If I may take an exerpt from the Scat Track Fever group blog wherein I describe the experience: apparently Matt lit up the blow torch and began h
eating the foil to accumulate soot, when, after just ten seconds of success, flames engulfed the entire apparatus, including Matt's hand! The only utterance Matt could find within himself were the repeated words, "bad, bad, bad," in a completely monotone voice. Looking at Lizzy for guidance, which he got, in the form of her frantic pointing outside, Matt marched the flaming device out of the green house and doused it in a puddle. He is ok, though! His flaming hand lost mass amounts of hair, but apparently the two group members who witnessed the fiery debachle thought it was hilarious.
We are now into the third week of this month-long program! When I think about how fast the Summer Institute has already flown by, it reminds me how quickly the next year will probably go. One year is not very much time to accomplish all the classes, internship work, and practicum experience I will need to earn my degree next summer!
For the first two hours after arrival were spent trekking through sloppy mud puddles looking for signs of mammal presence. Though t
he weather had knocked out most tracks left over the wet weekend, we were able to locate several moose prints and some coyote scat in the woodland area. Lara, one of our instructors, ventured with us through the corridors as we desperately scrutinized the landscape for animal markings. There was little to no success with that in the farm area. To change gears, we excitedly pulled our soot traps from their hiding spots, only to receive more disappointing news; the rain had all but dissolved any trace of mammal activity in the traps. While we were happy to notice that the small mammal trap boasted some claw marks and scat deposits, the copious pork fat bait and soot covering were seemingly untouched in our larger trap. With that, we parted ways with Lara and decided to take our lunch break, that we might reconvene with a master plan. This is what occurred the second half of our day, after a midday visit to the local Harvest Basket grocery store:After lunch, armed with a new arsenal of fishy catfood, cheap peanut butter and a good ol' sterno can, we trekked back to the farm, where it was already rainin again, to try our hand at re-sooting the mammal traps. We'd been told by Dan Gardoqui that the larger the flame the better, but smaller flames like candles would still produce good, but slow, results. Under the semi-shelter of a canopy, we lit our sterno, and spent quite a while trying to accumulate soot, but to no avail. The minimalists (ak
a poor, material-deficient graduate students) that we are, we resorted to using mud in place of soot on the small animal trap. Because we really wanted the advantages of actual soot, Lizzy made a call to her boss at the UNH greenhouse to see if he would let us use his blowtorch, which he happily did. So Lizzy and Matt took the trap over there to blow-torch-ify it while Leah and I stayed behind to deal with the motion sensor camera situation.When we first arrived back to the farm after the long weekend, we could see right away that the camera had captured six pictures. Of what, though, we were unsure. We were extremely hopeful that even just one would boast a photo of wildlife. However, Leah and I discovered the unforunate truth; every picture was of one of our roving classmates! Oh well. So we moved the camera to another spot deeper in the woods where mammal activity seemed high. Hopefully we will capture something of note that I can report on in the next few days!
The most interesting story of the day involves Lizzy and Matt's excursion to use the blow torch. If I may take an exerpt from the Scat Track Fever group blog wherein I describe the experience: apparently Matt lit up the blow torch and began h
eating the foil to accumulate soot, when, after just ten seconds of success, flames engulfed the entire apparatus, including Matt's hand! The only utterance Matt could find within himself were the repeated words, "bad, bad, bad," in a completely monotone voice. Looking at Lizzy for guidance, which he got, in the form of her frantic pointing outside, Matt marched the flaming device out of the green house and doused it in a puddle. He is ok, though! His flaming hand lost mass amounts of hair, but apparently the two group members who witnessed the fiery debachle thought it was hilarious.We are now into the third week of this month-long program! When I think about how fast the Summer Institute has already flown by, it reminds me how quickly the next year will probably go. One year is not very much time to accomplish all the classes, internship work, and practicum experience I will need to earn my degree next summer!
1 comment:
Despite the disappointments you identify here, I thoroughly enjoyed my morning with you and your research team yesterday. The coyote and moose tracks were very interesting and indicate that the logging road is being used by more than us. I also will cross my fingers in hope that the camera captures something of interest! Research is not over yet.
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