Hi everyone,
I realize I've been very quiet recently... I think I've just
fallen into a routine and don't have any interesting new stories for
you! Also, I don't have internet access where I live in Gamboa,
it's a whole 5 minute walk away!!
Rachel and I have been working hard on both her project and my new
independent project. We are typically at the flight cage from 7pm
until 1am every night. My independent project involved
documenting that Trachops, our bats, can catch prey mid-air. The
are conventionally though of strictly as a species that plucks prey off
of a surface. However, they are remarkably adept at chasing down
katydids and snatching them mid flight (katydids are similar to
grasshoppers, but have wings that look like leaves). Simply
documenting that behavior is worthy of publication in one of the many
bat journals (and Rachel has offered me the coveted position of first
author!). However, we're getting carried away... There are
many articles already out there that describe the variation of
echolocation calls in bat species that are both aerial hawkers and
substrate gleaners, it would be really interesting to do that study
with Trachops, who usually heavily rely's on passive acoustic cues from
their prey (i.e. they don't bother echolocating, they just wait for
their prey to make some noise and then hunt them down, in fact if they
land next to it, they probe with their mouth instead of using
echolocating--fascinating!). However, adding the echolocation
information would have to be done next year (with the equipment) and in
conjunction with Elisabeth Kalko, the neotropical bat guru from Germany
who owns the equipment. Obviously it isn't so feasible for me to
come again next year, when I'll probably want to be doing other more
veterinary research.... But, maybe Rachel can do it without
me... Anyways, its all very interesting and exciting and a great
learning experience for me!!!
Other than that... I do really enjoy living in Gamboa. As
I've said beforefd, the house we are renting is fantastic! It
also feels much more like being in Panama, perhaps sometimes a little
too much like Panama, as at 6:30am the dogs, chickens, parakeets, and
gardeners all start making a lot of noise, and our house has lots of
windows which are always wide open! When you went to be 4 hours
before, you don't appreciate it! Although, on BCI it was the
howler monkeys who woke us up, so I guess the tropics are just a tough
spot for nocturnal resarchers!
Speaking of nocturnal resarchers, the rest of Rachel's lab from Texas
showed up (i.e. she and these students all have the same
advisor). These are all the Tungara researchers (including her
advisor, the well known and respected Mike Ryan), Tungara's being the
frog which Rachel's bats eat... They are a really great bunch,
and include some excellent cooks, so I'm eating fantastically well at
the moment (last night was corvina (sea bass) with papaya sauce and
coconut rice!). Not to mention that now, off of BCI, we do our
own shopping and buy loads of fruits and vegetables since they are
outrageously inexpensive! (2 mangoes for 50 cents, 2 avocado for
the same, red/orange/yellow peppers all at 90 cents a pound! And
that's at the supermarket, not the cheaper vegetable stands!)
Before they arrived I had some last minute opportunities to drive the
Tungara truck (i.e. to the supermarket, they nearest of which is just
north of Panama City, a 30 minute drive away). It's a fantastic
old diesel 4x4 pickup, a true field truck, and dricing it through the
luch forest roads makes me feel very scientist-y and exciting! :)
I'm a little horrified that I leave in only 2 weeks!! Although at
the same time also quite glad, it is a great amount of time as a brief
exposure to the world that is STRI and BCI! Its been long enough
to feel like I belong and to get a good idea of this part of Panama and
the research environment here. I haven't been here nearly long
enough to see all the cool animals (not even a sloth yet, at least that
I was aware of! I'm sure I've passed under several sleeping
ones!) or to have much time for travelling. All the same, I am
excited to come home and live my life (not as someone else's assistant,
although I have no complaints whatsoever about being exactly that right
now!), and feel like I have experienced it here properly.
This saturday is the annual Derby Day, in which the BCI residents
invite all of STRI to come and have a brunch, cane toad races, and a
barbeque/party in the evening. It is probably the premiere BCI
annual event, and will involve lots of druken debauchery and a lot of
mis-treated toads! It is supposed to coincide with the real
Kentucky Derby, but at that time the island population was a little too
sparse! We are encouraged to dress appropriately, I went to
Avenida Central which is full of discount clothing and appliance stores
(literally, all clothes are under $5, usually under $2!!!). I got
a dress for a shockingly expensive $6, and hat for $1, and enormous
fake lilies to adorn the hat for another $2. I'm very excited, I
am certainly lucky that my time here is coinciding with this event!
After derby day, I should just have enough time to finish my
experiments, visit the canal museum, and fly home! Looks like no
caribbean archipelago travels for me, but honestly I'm not too
disappointed... I'd rather appreciate my time where I am more!
Well, I'm off to dinner!
Love you all loads!
:)
Miranda