6/24/2013


A lot of field work today. I am pooped!

I tried my best to take a 'selfie' to show people my work environment and how cool it is.

It didn't turn out as expected.

Not my best picture...

The look on my face plus the gallons of sweat dripping from my face really capture the moment though.

Filed work in the jungle is hot and sweaty. Not to mention stressful.

I feel like everything in the jungle is out to kill you.

Have a mentioned a million times that the bugs are HUGE!

Calynda bicuspis (Walking Stick) When I first felt this thing it scarred the crap out of me. I don't think they bite. But after a quick photo I didn't let it hang around long enough to find out.

Nephila clavipes (Golden-Orb Weaver) I already added a picture of one of these. This one will have a special place in my heart though... after I almost walked face first right into it!

 I was out collecting all morning. So far I have caught and tested 50/120 animals. I'm on track to finishing early and being able to add some more species to the study. I also think it would be cool to do some immunology stuff. We'll see if Steven approves...

Gonatodes alboqularis (Yellow-headed Gecko) This is a lizard that I'm thinking about adding to the list. It's awesome that they're called yellow-headed and this is the examples I keep finding over and over. Maybe I'm color blind.

After dinner it was time to pay the piper. I needed to collect more red-eyed tree frogs.

 I needed to go out into the jungle.

At night.

But I wasn't about to go alone again! Luckily a fellow REU student Mitch needed to go out too. So we headed out together.

We weren't just headed to any part of the jungle though. It was time for my first adventure into the swamp!

Uh oh.

Here's a sign that will give a good indicator of what kind of nervous I was full of as we wandered off trail into the darkness.

The swamp was creepy, although I have to say, a little less so than the jungle.

When you're off trail at night in the jungle you really can't see more than 10 or 15 feet max in front of you. There is nothing but thick bushes and palms in every direction. Walking in the swamp you can at least see a little better.

It felt like the mellow intro part of the pirates of the caribbean, when you first get on the ride and pass by a little wooden shack. The water was knee/thigh high in the deepest spots.

I'd say the swamp was about the size of three or four football fields. It was long and relatively narrow, in the shape of an L. I don't want you to get the impression that I know my way around that place. I think I wasn't as scared this time because I was with someone else.

By myself there is no way in hell I would have gone in there by myself.

Not after the crocodile sign!

Luckily I was distracted by some of the cool animals we started to see.

Manitidae species- I'm not even going to try and identify this thing. I keep forgetting to throw a hand or my watch into pictures for scale. She was big. And she didn't look happy to have us photographing her.

Kinosternon leucostomum (White-Lipped Mud Turtle) I tried (for about 5 minutes) to not walk into the deeper parts of water and keep my feet dry with the boots above the water line...What? I could have dry feet or catch a turtle in a jungle swamp...Clearly I made the right choice

Glass Caterpillar (?) - That's what I've heard these things are called. I hear if you touch them those little hairs will get lodged in your skin and cause sever irritation that can last for week...no thanks.

Not a critter, but still pretty.

 Norops capito (Pug-nosed Anole) This is another lizard I might want to work with for my study. However I've only seen 2 so far. Pretty darn cute.

So after walking through the swamp for a about an hour. I was pretty distracted.

I was excited too, because we had seen so much cool stuff. Not to mention there were tadpoles everywhere! I was really looking for those red-eyed tree frogs. Still not a one though...

A good way to go herping at night in the swamp seems to be with a powerful flashlight and looking for eyeshine. About 10m from where I was standing I saw a pretty good set. I was sure it was a big frog, and hopefully my study species!

Keep in mind the sign we saw earlier.

Because I had completely forgotten about it.

What else cold that eyeshine be?

I was perfectly safe and clearly there was nothing in this creepy, dark, stinky jungle swamp that would or could hurt me.

Caiman crocodilus (Spectacled Caiman) Admittedly it looked A LOT BIGGER in the moment. I was scared shitless staring down at this thing in the water. "Okay, George, are you really going to grab this thing? You promised Kelly you'd be safe!. How big is this really? Do you think it will bite?" (pretty much my thought process exactly) Eventually I figured 'you only live once' and reached down and grabbed the little bugger. It was surprisingly soft and gentle. Clearly you can see from the look on my face that I was ecstatic. You have to understand, as a kid I could only ever dream of jumping into a murky swamp, and hand grabbing a caiman...I was pretty darn excited to say the least.

 My night...no, my trip, is pretty much golden after this point. I'll be living off that high for a looong time. I had almost completely forgotten why I was out in the damn swamp anyway. As far as I was concerned I went out there to grab a caiman. Boom, done.

Walking out of the swamp I felt a 'thud' on my backpack.

I was pretty sure it was the giant spider from arachnophobia and that my punishment for grabbing the caiman was a swift death by spider.

To my surprise...


Agalychnis callidryas (Red-eyed Tree Frog) My third species of frog is very generous. They were kind enough to find me. They must have jumped out of a tree or something and just landed on my backpack. What are the chances? I'm pretty pumped, 2 down, 18 more to go

Tonight I'm going to have to return to the swamp to return my animals and hopefully look for more.

I hope I don't have to go alone.

If that's the case I might b releasing those frogs a little premature.

We'll see how the nigh goes.