Jicotea

yesterday we completed another for sampling round 2.  it is the most physically challenging site by far, but also one of the most beautiful and fun.  it is about a 45 minute drive from our house to the site. we pass this beautiful cemetery on the way. the graves are all above ground. i am surprised (and thankful) that our old land rover made it all the way and back every day for 2 weeks - and thankful that my field clothes are holding up.

the site is basically on the edge of a mountain – which makes for spectacular views, but sore legs.  we divide the 500 by 500 m grid in half to check the traps, so we hike for about 3 to 4 hours every morning. for the bottom half of the grid, we counted that we go under, over, or between 20 barbed wire fences.  for this site, there is a mix of coffee, forest, pasture, and sugar cane.  all of it is treacherous in some way. the coffee has cobwebs in between the plants that inevitably get stuck to your face at some point in the morning.  the forest has steep slopes in the mud that you slide down repeatedly.  when i work in the group with the farmer, he holds my hand or arm through most of it so i don’t fall.  i told him that i am like an old lady, he said no, i just want to hold your hand - very sweet. this little mouse in the picture wasn’t doing so well when we got him out of the trap. he was very weak and wobbly.  we didn’t have bait left, so the farmer grabbed a banana to feed him and the little mouse sat and nibbled on the banana. he was hungry.

the pasture grass has vines all over the ground that hide the rocks, cow patties, and water underneath them.  they also reach out and grab your feet so you have to do a little hop to free your foot and give yourself a little more air time to place your foot down so that you don’t fall flat on your face. the worst though is the sugar cane. the densely planted stalks are about 8 feet tall and they are sharp.  we wear long sleeves, keep our heads down, bring our arms up to protect our faces, but we still come out with little cuts all over.  it is also loud and hot in there. the silence after getting out of the sugar cane patch is amazing – like someone was sharpening knives in both ears as your push your way through and then just stops at the other end.

some of the points are near some people’s houses.  one of them has a huge dog, named mancha (which means "spot" in spanish). he is tied up, so you can sneak around him while is barking and pulling with all his strength against his chain.  when two of my field assistants were walking that transect line, mancha pulled hard against his chain enough to slip out of his collar…one of them screamed, the other froze in place.  mancha though just walked over to a bush, lifted his leg, and relieved himself.

one day of rest today and then tomorrow we start the last site for this second round.  no rest for the wicked as the saying goes : )