20 July 2007: Moving the Traps/ The Dead Fox

Early this morning, I had the 2am trap check shift with Rachel, Claudia, and Ariane.  Estela has shown us 2 of the most famous Southern Hemisphere constellations, The Southern Cross and Scorpio, so when Ariane and I finished checking our half of the traps (There was nothing in them) we searched the sky.  We couldn't find Scorpio, but we did see the Southern Cross and 3 shooting stars!  It was a beautiful night. After breakfast, we broke up into smaller teams again.  One team went out to set up the rest of the camera traps, another team went to check the traps.  Since I had been up for the 2am check, I was part of the team that stayed at the farm.  Estela asked me if I could help with data entry.  Since Ariane is such an excellent data-entry teacher, I was able to do this on my own.  It is a very time consuming task!.

This afternoon, instead of checking the traps we went out to relocate some of the traps.  If the traps are set and have so many "unsuccessful" days, the traps are moved to a new location.  We moved  traps 1-5.  This meant carrying them from one location to another.  It is not an easy task to carry the traps in this terrain!

Claudia & Rachel Moving the Traps

A well-camouflaged box trap

All the vegetation here seems to have thorns!

Box Trap at Night

When we returned to the farm after moving the traps, I was surprised to find Miriam taking measurements and data on a dead fox.  Claudia asked me if I wanted to help.  Estela's research has all been with foxes (all the scientists help each other-- share equipment, time, labor, etc) so any time a fox is seen or found, the data is recorded.  Estela and Claudia had found this fox dead on the road.  It was a small fox (Estela figured about 8 months old based on its size and teeth)  and it hadn't been dead for too long.  After the data was recorded, Estella cut the fox's head off.  This may seem crazy to you, but there is a good reason for it.  All of these projects are relatively new.  The researchers are gathering baseline data.  In order to announce to the world, with any certainty, how big a "normal" fox is and what is the "normal" skeletal structure, there has to be A LOT of data.  For this reason, any time a fox is found, it's head is cut off.  The heads are taken to the University where the skin, tissue, etc is removed and they become part of a growing collection of fox skulls.

You can call me crazy (I prefer inquisitive), but as Estella was cutting off the fox's head, I asked what was going to happen to the rest of the body.  Hearing that it was just going to be disposed of, I asked if we could dissect it first.  If you get a bunch of scientists together, they are not going to say no to a dissection!  So Estela, Miriam, and I put on gloves and dissected the fox.  It was really cool.  We cut open the stomach and discovered the remains of the rodents that had been eaten, including a tiny skeletal foot, in perfect condition.  We also were surprised that we didn't see any obviously broken bones, but we did find the heart and lungs flooded with blood-- the cause of death. Alex and Kath were there for the dissection.  Although they didn't put gloves on and dig in, it was a unique bonding experience.  :-) A funny little sidenote... Little Anna, the girl who lives on the farm, had seen the dead fox and thought the "woof woof" was sleeping.  When she came back later and asked what happened to the "woof-woof", Claudia told her that we took it back to its mother!  Just a little white lie...

The fox (Zorro) autopsy:

Above: Recording data Left/Below: Dissection

Tonight for dinner, Claudia cooked chicken on the "disco" a contraption that looks like a cross between a birdbath and a wok that goes right in the fire.  It was so yummy!  The food here has been amazing! After dinner, I taught Alex, Rachel, Ariane, Miriam, Claudia, and Estela how to play spoons.  It was so fun!  When we play spoons with my family it gets pretty intense.  It is even more intense when you are playing in 2 different languages!  There was a lot of yelling, screaming, and laughing.  I wish I had gotten pictures of that!

Claudia Cooking

Jane, Kath, & Steve:  Waiting for dinner