6/30/2013

I knew I had a long day ahead of me.

I had no idea.

Getting into the lab, I quickly realized the task at hand was pretty daunting.

That's a lot of froggies to test. They're very active too, which means to be accurate, I can only test 3 or 4 at a time. More than that and they start to escape their chambers, or knock over the water tanks, or cause a general ruckus.

Don't get me wrong though.

These things are just about the cutest trouble makers I've ever run into.

Oh come on.

How am I supposed to get anything done with you looking so adorable?




Their main mode of defense is what we've come to call 'leaf mode'. It makes much more sense in the wild. When they've been spotted and you go to grab them, they shrink down, turn a different shade of green, and try to blend in with whatever leaf/surface they're on.

It doesn't work very well on wrist-watches.

Half the time they go into leaf-mode, the other half they seem too curious to put up any type of defense.

Oh, hey there little fella, where you headed?

He was very curious about the flashing box that gave him so much attention all day.

 I'm just glad these aren't my permanent study species.

I'd never get anything done.

I love a good looking rattlesnake, but they can't compete with these.





After working most of the day on getting the CTmax data for my frogs I was pretty pooped. I am 5/6 of the way through though; only 20 more critters to catch!

I spent the late afternoon working on the last logistics of my frog models. I'm hoping by tomorrow night I can put some out and start collecting some environmental data.

I was testing out some newer designs on the models in the jungle right outside the lab.

I was going out to collect them and harvest the data from the iButtons when I looked up and had to do a double take.

I really couldn't believe what I was looking at.

It was too big.

I had heard they lived here but never thought I'd see one.

Keep in mind that the largest snake I've ever caught is probably a tie between the bird-eating snake I caught the other day, and maybe a real big gopher snake I caught in Poly canyon one time.

They pale in comparison. 

Boa constrictor (Boa constrictor) Admittedly I was pretty hesitant about catching this beauty. I've seen my friend/mentor Tony jump on snakes at the first sighting, seemingly without even looking to see what type it was... I am just not that type of herpetologist. As soon as I approached her she started to coil up, strike at my hand a few times and make a horrible hissing noise. It sounded like a diesel powered lawn sprinkler. I immediately started to question what I was trying to do.

Sometimes you just gotta go for it.


 They don't call them constrictors for nothing. She was nothing but muscle and tried her best to cut off circulation to my arm. A beautiful animal that is just full of power. I was pretty amped on adrenaline after I caught her. Luckily I was only ~ 30m from the lab. I ran over and yelled to everyone through the glass. It felt pretty bad ass, but at the same time I did not want to be at the business end of her. I held on to her neck for dear life.

She was no more than teeth, muscle, and a pretty bad attitude. They're always so timid in captivity. Let me tell you, they are not very calm when you pull them out of the jungle. She let me know the entire time I held her that she would have bit the hell out of me if I let her head slip.

She had an SVL of 2.14 meters (a little over 7 feet). You can see the girth of her too. This is average size, some have been found that are 5-6 meters... I can safely say there is no way in hell I would try to catch one of those monsters. I think I'll be happy if this is the largest snake I ever catch in the wild. I don't know if I have the constitution to catch anything bigger.

Whew!

Sorry to go on for so long about that. Obviously I was/am pretty darn excited.

Definitely the highlight of my day.

Later in the night I did see one more cool critter.

Fulgora laternaria (Machaca) This is the weirdest bug I've ever seen. It looks like a moth but it's actually in Hemiptera,  like cicadas or aphids. You can see where it's eyes and head are. I have no idea what the weird extension is though. It looks like a nose...I guess. There is an awesome urban legend that if you're bitten by one of these you have to have sex within 24-hours to not die a horrible death. Nice. I wonder if that's ever actually worked?

Not going to the swamp tonight, it's pouring again and I hear there have been a lot of tree falls in the jungle tonight.

When the bromelaids fill up with water it adds a lot of weight on the tree and the jungle can get pretty dangerous when the big ones fall.

I could use a night off anyway.