Goings on with Wings, Rodents, and Rattles

Well. Where to start? I suppose I should mention that the roommates from a previous entry are back. They should be leaving today, and they got here Wednesday evening. The graduate student and I decided he would email me directly when he was coming, so I wouldn't be surprised like last time. So, this time, not being taken by surprise, has been a lot nicer. They still do "roommate" things, but it's easier to overlook them. I even made room for them in the fridge. I know. I'm too magnanimous for my own good. :) Oh. And I got my lighter back. I told Shelby to cancel the report on the petty theft. I think he rolled his eyes at me.

Yesterday morning I found several fun things in my traps. One, I found another Kangaroo rat in the same area where I caught the 2nd Kangaroo Rat. And before you take my "another" too seriously, I'll go ahead and confess that this was, in fact, the same 9.5 inch, female Kangaroo rat. The polish on her nails had pretty much faded, but I still detected some on her paw, where she had gotten a little squirmy and I missed. But how serendipitous was that mishap! Now I know that I should probably start painting fur as well as nails. She ended up getting another pedicure for her troubles. Funnily enough, she didn't act like she wanted to be in my gloved hand. Lots of squeaking, squirming, rapid heart beat, etc. However, when I bent close to blow on her drying nails, she got completely still and calm. Not even the little squeak after that, and she kept her eyes closed. My assumption is she realized the game was lost, and she was about to become food. I set her down by my feet and she looked around her - surprised. She actually shook her head before she took off again. Poor girl. But maybe she's learned her lesson because I didn't catch her this morning.

By yesterday morning, I thought I was pretty prepared for the types of creatures I could find in my mammal traps (really a misnomer). I had caught rodents, of course, but also frogs, snakes, and lizards (not to mention the odd number of crickets that make their way into the traps). But I thought wrong. Yesterday morning proved that. I caught a bird. Yes. A bird in a trap that was on the ground in a pasture. She (I know it was a she because of the non-distinguished coloring) was some sort of sparrow - not a House sparrow, which I've worked a lot with. I opened up the latch and she flew away, scolding and insulting me the whole time. Not my fault she has a weakness for PB and oats.

I also caught a Hispid Pocket mouse yesterday. It's a really cool creature - large for a mouse. It's related to hamsters and gerbils. It has very small ears and a large nose. It's most distinguishing physical characteristic, though, is its fur. It starts out on top with black fur with yellow tips (it kind of gives this mixed or mottled black/yellow color). On its belly it is pale - to be expected. But inbetween those two colors is this tawny, orange colored fur. This (and the two-toned tail) was how I knew that it was at least a mouse I should know (way back I took a 2 week, 3 hr Mammalogy course, where we had to identify lots and lots (upwards of 70) of mammals down to scientific name. And the two hardest groups were the bats and the rodents - so when I caught that little guy, the only thing I could think of was "remember the fur! remember the fur!" Goes to show what a 2 week long cram session can do to you. Couldn't remember the scientific or common name. Only remembered enough to know that I should know what it was!)

I called in help - a friend who had also taken the course. She got out her book, and sure enough, it was a Hispid pocket mouse. This species, like the KS glossy snake, is a species that was thought to be on the refuge, but has never been confirmed. Wrestling with my conscience, I ended up deciding to give the little guy (who growled at me, even) to Curtis so his poor snakes could eat. Mom didn't approve. I didn't approve either, really, but I told Curtis I'd help out. Then I look into those cute little rodent eyes that say "Why do you want to make a Happy Meal out of me?" and realize I've made a promise that's very hard for me to keep.

Curtis didn't help. When I gave it to him, I said how cute he (the mouse. not Curtis) was. And he looked at it and said, "Yeah....tasty!". Then to my further unwilling amusement, he bent down to peer at the tawny, orange fur and said, "Caramel!" haha. Good to have a sense of humor about these things, I guess.

When I told Emily about the mouse, I was still deciding if it was a Plains pocket mouse or a Hispid pocket mouse. So we walked down to identify it together. We saw Curtis on the way back and she so, "So!....Mouse killer!" Curtis, the snake man, just chuckled.

But before you get to thinking of Curtis as the enemy of small mammals everywhere (and me as the accomplice) this morning I found another Hispid Pocket mouse in the same exact trap, and I let it go. When I told the refuge biologist, Ron, this, he gave me this really disappointed face. It turns out, since they're a newly confirmed species, he needs a specimen (several of them, really, he tells me) to freeze and preserve. So the next ones I find, could I please bring them to him so he could kill them and freeze them? Ron then asked what else I had caught this morning, and I told him I caught a white footed mouse in the same area - that I also let go. After clearing up the confusion between "white footed mouse," "white footed deer mouse," and "white footed jumping mouse," he mentioned that, "if I would" he could use several of those too to put in what I'm affectionately calling the 'Freezer of Death'. Sigh. Given this choice of evils, I must say I'd rather see Curtis' snakes fat and sassy. Ah, well. All in the name of science... (Poke the baby rhesus monkey again, Professor Harlow! (for those who don't know what I'm talking about: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harry_Harlow))

Yesterday, the refuge manager, Jon, and Shelby both (and at different times) reminded me that Saturday marks the first day of dove hunting season. They both thought that I might should move some of my traps that were in a heavily hunted area, lest they start walking off. So that put me this morning in another farm field further north of the refuge's hunting boundary. At first glance, I really liked the field. It was smaller and narrower, and bordered on the South end by woods, and the West and East sides by tall grass prairie habitat. Even near 10:00 in the morning, a large part of the field was shaded. It gave off this whole vibe of being remote and peaceful. I happily start re-setting up my 19 recently evicted traps. I put 9 of them right in the middle of the field and the last 10 along the western edge of it. It was there that I found this little shrubby grassy patch. I thought maybe I should put a trap there, but weirdly had this not good feeling about it. I told myself to get over it, it wasn't like there were spiders there waiting to inject poison into me. It looked like a place a K. rat might hang out.

Apparently, I wasn't the only one who thought that.

As I put the trap down, not three feet to the left of my hand I heard this rattle. At first, my sleepy brain says "Cicada". But then, a more panicky part of the nervous system replies, "Too deep to be a cicada. Has to be....Oh God!" I very hastily back up and step of the remainder of my traps. Never did see the sucker (only heard him), and I thought about going in for a closer look. I took a step before my brain brings up a video I once saw of how quickly and how far rattlesnakes can strike. So I decided I really didn't want to piss this guy off anymore. It's really pretty cool though. I've never heard a rattlesnake's rattle in real life before. Haha. I can just hear my mom saying "Oh yeah, Jenn, that's cool." Let's just hope that he's gone by the time I go to set that trap this evening.

ps - I cannot claim any pictures except the very first. But they're good, aren't they?

Sickness, Spiders, and Vultures

Sounds like a happy title for a post, no?

Well. I spent the majority of Monday morning moving around some mammal traps. I had some in the woods and in some heavily vegetated areas which probably wasn't the best idea. And before you say, "Man! What kind of biologist is this? Trying to catch Kangaroo Rats in a wooded area?!?" let me just point out that a K. rat had been caught in that area before - recently before. Not in my mammal trap, mind you, but in the drift fences we've set up there.

But, after several weeks and no rats, I gave up and decided that the one rat that was caught in the drift fence was probably lost. I moved them to a new spot called the "Hunter's 80," and I added some great new bait made of oats, chunky PB, and unshelled salty nuts. Who could resist that? However, based on previous experiences, I wouldn't let myself get too optimistic. And on Tuesday morning, I was rewarded with another Kangaroo rat in one of the newly moved traps. It was another little girl - this time 3.4 ounces and 9.5 inches long. Her tail, exactly like the other one, was 5.5 inches. I'm gonna have to see if this trend keeps up.

So, for those of you playing the home game, this means that everytime I've run the traps (at least for the past 2 times) I've caught a rat. I'm so totally on a roll! I didn't run the traps last night/this morning because I came down with a fever and throat infection.

Who knows why? Well, I kind of do. But the point is, on Monday evening I realized that every time I swallowed it felt like I was swallowing shards of glass. Tuesday morning came around and I swallowed even larger shards of glass. I went to work feeling woozy and ache-y, and at lunch I took my temperature and sure enough I was running a fever. Emily suggested I get to a doctor asap. She also suggested I stop touching things in her office (and promptly started following me around with a disinfectant wipe...).

So I made some calls and soon found myself being subjected to what Alva calls a hospital. Now, I've enjoyed the dubious services of Goddard at OU, so I wasn't expecting much. For instance, I certainly wasn't expecting the registration "office" to be a trailer in the parking lot. I definitely wasn't expecting the nurse. Once I made it into the doctor's room, she came in wheeling a blood pressure machine. She puts in right beside the sterilized bed and tries to turn it on. She tries again. Then she says, "Why won't this turn on?". I pointedly look at the plug wrapped around the back of the machine. She kind of laughs and looks around for a plug in. "I'm not used to doing this," she tells me. What, I think, being a nurse? She explains further that normally she's in ER. Haha. I can only imagine.

The doctor (whoops! sorry - the PA) comes in and we introduce each other. He takes the stick, pushes down my tongue and says, "Wow! They're really red and swollen." (He later received the Observation Award for the day). He quickly writes me a prescription for a Z-pack and tells me that he thinks it might be strep, but he isn't sure. Need I mention here that that's exactly what I said to the nurse when she asked me what was wrong?

But I shouldn't complain. He did what I needed him to do: got me in and out quickly and gave me a prescription for an antibiotic.

I'm still feeling a little puny. But no more fever and the shards are definitely getting smaller.

This morning I went to check the drift fences. There are two that I check. One is north of the Hwy, on the side of the road. I like that one. Not too many spiders. Lots of ants though (I have to be on the ball with my checking of this trap, otherwise the ants will demolish any live thing in there. I've found one lizard skeleton and lots of shells of grasshoppers and half eaten spiders. mmm - protein!). The other is South of headquarters in the woods. Lots and lots of spiders with lots and lots of webs that I walk through to get to the traps. I was walking through such a web and grimacing like I always do when I notice a tickle in my left glove. I look down. I see a nasty, horrible spider coming out of my glove.

How does a newly graduated (with Magna Cum Laude honors, even) biologist respond to this? Does she say, "Hmm....interesting. I wonder what prompted this creature to seek refuge in my glove..."? Does she put him in a container so she can accurately define him later, and then, if he is not already, put him in the refuge collection? Does she take pictures to document this close encounter with a member of a species which is thousands of years older than hers? Does she happily release him so he can continue to propagate his genes?

No. Of course not.

She screams and squeals like a hysterical girl (even giving a hysterical giggle) while she shakes off her glove, throws it on the ground, and stomps on it. Then, she pinches each of the fingers in the glove to make sure it's not in there, and if it is, it's died at least twice (they come back to life, you know). Then, while she's checking the traps, she keeps shuddering and slapping herself because she still feels it on her.

I'm not proud. But I am amused. Now that's it over, anyway.

And lastly, on my travels this morning, I notice a dead raccoon on the side of the road. As I continue with my travels up and down this road, I notice two things. One: the later it gets in the day, the more turkey vultures I see hovering over the road kill. Two: These vultures will not move - even for my big, bad refuge truck. I have to honk my horn loudly and obnoxiously. Then they will reluctantly move perhaps a grand total of 10 feet, only to quickly return as soon as I've passed by. Three: (I guess there were 3 things I noticed) the raccoon keeps scooting across the road. When I come back from setting up my traps this evening, I notice the raccoon has finally made it to the other side of the road, and there is absolutely nothing left of the raccoon but it's skin. Seriously - it had been cleaned out. Makes me think about the similarity between ants and vultures.

But the difference is, the ants started on the lizards and other various creatures in the traps while they were still alive. Ants win the creepy award for the week.

Born Free

Monday night, as previously mentioned, was not a good night for the deer censusing. Because of the lightning, thunder, and ominous clouds we had to call it quits at 11:00, before we had even finished the north transect.

But you only got one half of the story. I'm assuming because of the storm, the next morning I had a lot of activity with my mammal traps. And this morning, I use the word "mammal" lightly. Shelby had previously suggested putting one of my traps right against what we thought was a K. rat den. So, Tuesday morning, I'm groggily checking my traps, and the one flush with the den hole was closed. I pick it up, and there is definitely something live in there. I give a brief prayer of thanksgiving for finally catching a Kangaroo rat, and I slowly open the door of the trap. And...I give a loud squeak and pop the door closed again. Why? Because it wasn't a Kangaroo Rat. It was even a mammal. It was a snake. Yes! A snake in my mammal trap, and I had no idea what kind. Mentally chewing out Shelby, I put the mammal trap in my truck to take to Curtis - the herp. guy.

But we're not done yet. Before all my traps are checked I encounter a hispid cotton rat, a plains leopard frog, a cute little deer mouse, and another snake! This one I knew - the red-sided garter snake. I simply slid him out of my trap and sent him on his way. Brave, I know. :) Anyway, I take the poor, cute little deer mouse (Curtis has asked me to give him (and his snakes) any deer mice I catch. I feel bad for the mouse, but he'd probably end up as someone's food anyway - I mean he was dumb enough to get caught in a trap not even meant for him) and the unknown, scary snake back to Mr. Herp Guy so he can identify the snake. Hell, I'm not even worried about identifying him at this point, I just want him out of my mammal trap!

As luck would have it, Curtis was out for the day. Emily and I moved the snake from the mammal trap to a snake bag, and from the snake bag to a little plastic aquarium. I sheepishly realize that he is not nearly as big as I thought he was. After spending some time in our reptile books, we realize that what we have is a Kansas Glossy Snake - called glossy because of how shiny and glossy its skin is. He can be identified not only by its skin, but by a black band that "connects" the eyes of the snake (basically like a mask) and by it's plain white belly (which is apparently rare with snakes). Thinking that Curtis was out for the day, I release both the snake and the deer mouse (not together - I figure I'll pull for the underdog and give the mouse the benefit of the doubt about his ability to survive). Curtis, of course, shows up in the afternoon, very put out that a snake he hasn't gotten to spend much time with was here and now gone. You see, the glossy snake has never been confirmed as a refuge species - we thought it was here, but we weren't sure. Now, obviously, we're very sure. So, Curtis felt like he really missed out. I wisely didn't mention the mouse, and suggested I might catch him again (of course, the odds of that happening...)

What I loved about the glossy snake is that is defined as "mild mannered" and will not bite if handled - might flail a bit though. So Emily and I braved it and started handling him to take pictures. And we got some good ones. And those pictures are what I was waiting on before I posted this story. However, you're not going to get them. Emily has been gone both yesterday and today, so no pictures of that snake for you.

But don't despair. I have more to tell. Yesterday morning, I, even more groggily, am checking the funnel traps, and what should I find but a snake in one. I bring the funnel trap to eye level, and use my checklist to figure out what kind of snake it is. Glossy skin? Check. Black band connecting the eyes? Check. Plain, white belly? Check. Completely non-aggressive behavior? Check.

So there I have it. Another Kansas glossy snake. However. This isn't the same one - this one is much bigger - I guestimate about 2 1/2 long.

Still not sure about my find, I don't take it out of the trap (after all, I don't have anything to put him in, and I can't drive and deal with a snake in my lap at the same time - even a mild mannered snake). But, realizing I will make the day of a certain herpetology enthusiast, I take the snake and trap back to the refuge with me.


Sigh. Curtis was, again, out for the day. So was Emily. So - all by myself (that's the important part) I, without gloves, get the snake out of the funnel trap, play with him some, look for someone to show him to, and, realizing that no one was in the office, finally put him in the little aquarium that held his conspecific just a few days before. I called Curtis to see when he was gonna be in and what he wanted me to do with this cool creature, and he tells me to keep it until he gets back. On Tuesday. So, now I have a temporary refuge mascot, and lots of pictures have been taken. I always knew I liked snakes, but I never thought I would enjoy playing with one like I have today and yesterday. I can only hope that he isn't too stressed out. His aquarium is a little smaller than I would like, but as he seems most comfortable coiled up, I'm not too worried about it. Curtis assured me he would be fine, and he is the resident herp. expert...

But. The adventures with wildlife are not finished. Last night on the deer census, Shelby was the driver, and I was the record keeper/co-pilot and we had finished with the census and we driving back to HQ when what should hop across the road in front of us but a kangaroo rat. Sigh. Shelby laughed and said, "I told you! I told I see them everywhere!" I grimaced and thought evil thoughts about stupid kangaroo rats who were mocking my efforts to do a survey on them. Little did I know that seeing the little guy was really an omen of things to come.

Late last night we had several more thunderstorms roll through, so when I managed to bring myself to consciousness this morning (4 late nights with early mornings can really do a number on a sleep lover like me), I think that, like Tuesday morning, I'm in for several more sightings in my mammal traps - without actually seeing a Kangaroo rat, of course. So, unbelievably groggy, I check my mammal traps this morning, and nothing! I'm so disappointed, but I still have 20 traps to check. I get to the third of my last 20, and belatedly realize that both doors are shut. Wondering what I have (this is the same area where I caught the garter snake) I very cautiously open up the door to find....MY FIRST KANGAROO RAT. Sure, she was a little soggy and her fur was matted, but there she was - long tail and all. I was completely unprepared (in terms of measuring and weighing her) so I take her back to the refuge's lab with me. I find a large plastic bag, and get her from the trap into the bag, where I see, yes, in fact, she is a little girl. She was 10 inches long from the tip of her nose to the tip of her tail - 4 1/2 inches of that was her actual body, the rest was all tail. She weighed around 3.5 oz. She had hurt herself in the trap; she had some blood on her, but I couldn't find the wound, and it didn't look like a new wound, so my guess is she panicked when the trap shut on her and cut herself on a metal bit. And aside from being extremely stressed and bedraggled looking, she was completely fine. I didn't get bit (thank heavens - that is not an experience I'd like to repeat), and she got a pretty new pedicure out of the deal. I did some research, and it turns out that K. rats marked by ear tagging or other such methods actually have a higher mortality rate than K. rats marked by other, non-painful methods. Not having the funds to insert a microchip in her, we went with the next best thing: Nail polish. :)

After her pedicure, I took her back and let her go. As I released her, I sang the chorus of "Born Free". I think she appreciated it (remember, I am severely sleep deprived). She was gracious enough to freeze for me long enough to get some great pictures of her. So, now I do not have to show you a picture of a live trap, because I've actually succeeded in trapping one.

Because I'm just so proud of my animals this week, I'm gonna leave you with more pictures of both snake and rat. :)

Late Nights and early mornings

So the deer censusing is going well. As I thought, it is not as fun as it was when I did it at the OU biological station. That's just to be expected, I suppose. For the first night, Monday night, I was the record keeper so I sat in the front with Ron and we bounced our way along the north area of our census. Lightning and thunder and ominous clouds showed over head. I asked Ron, who had checked the weather before we left, if the storm was headed our way and he said that he didn't know and was really surprised. Before things got really bad, however, Shelby radioed us to tell us that yes, in fact, the storm that looked like it was upon us was actually upon us. Go figure. So we headed back to headquarters and called it quits at a very early 11 p.m.

Something I was not expecting about the deer censusing (as perhaps I should have) are all the many hairy, ugly, big brown spiders that like to make their webs spanning the trees on either side of the roads we drive. Luckily for me, the first night, I was treated like the girl of the group (which I was) and put in the front seat. So I didn't have to deal with them as much as the spotlighters in the back of the truck did. However. I was the appointed gate opener. As Ron and I were the only ones with gate keys, and Ron was driving, it fell to me to open the gates. No big deal. I'm a big fan of keys and locks. Used them for the majority of my life. What did upset me were the many hairy, ugly, big brown spiders that made their webs on the gates, above the gates, beside the gates, probably under the gates. To my utter dismay, I found myself doing the helpless-girl-who-hates-spiders dance. Maybe I even squealed... It's hard to recall the exact moment when all the burly men (most of them game wardens or farmers) in the back of the truck started chuckling.

I tackled the dance and the squeal, if not the fear. As they say that courage is not having no fear, but mainly not letting that fear rule you, I would say I'm pretty damn brave girl. For, realizing that going back to the truck, flitting my eyelashes at one of the said burly men, and getting them to rescue the distressed damsel was completely out of the question, I unlocked the gate and pushed it open - with my booted foot, of course. Not like I was gonna touch the thing. But I wasn't done. After opening the gate, I had to wait for the truck to pass through and then I had to shut the gate - which definitely takes more time and gate/lock manipulation. Luckily for me, the kick that opened the gate dislodged many of my would be killers.

*I thought about putting a picture up of what these beasties look like, but realizing I'd have to look at them again, I'm not gonna. You're just gonna have to use your imagination.*

Aside from the gate issues (and really, the first one was the worst - none of the others were nearly so covered), it was a really interesting couple of hours. Aside from lots and lots of deer, we saw a skunk, several raccoons, and 4 coyotes. Yep. First time I've ever seen coyotes in the wild. It was wonderful, even though they were really far away.

Making our way back down the hwy after Shelby informed us that the lightning, thunder and ominous clouds were not just in our imagination, I see a baby raccoon in the road. I've spent time with raccoons. They're a pain on the best of days. Too curious and too intelligent for their own good (or maybe too curious and intelligent for our own good...). Nevertheless, seeing a baby raccoon still causes me to coo. I thought surely Ron was going to swerve. Surely....but no. I didn't hear a bump, and the next day I didn't see any remnants of raccoon road kill, but we did, in fact, drive over a baby raccoon. I call this to Ron's attention who sheepishly tells me he was actually watching the spotlights in the pastures rather than the road. I don't say anything to this, just make sure I'm still buckled in. :)

Last night was more of a success in more ways than one. First of all, we had an extra guy in the back, so - to give him something to do, Ron tells me - he gets my keys and gate duty. It was surprising the amount of relief that went through me. Secondly, it didn't storm on us so we got to do the full census. Thirdly, in the spot on the hwy were we drove over a baby raccoon, I looked to the side of the road, and what did I see but a baby raccoon. :) There's no way to tell if it is the baby raccoon, but I look at it as a good sign nonetheless.

Fourthly, I got out of my girly position as co-pilot/record keeper (secretary) and spent some time actually spotlighting. "What about the spiders??" you may ask. Well, I planned for this and remained as co-pilot for all our woodsy areas. When we took our break between north and south, I hopped up in back. This left me with a lot of pasture land with no trees in sight - hence no spiders making webs spanning the width of the road, hanging on to trees. Now, before you congratulate me on a plan well formed, I need to say that I did, in fact, forget some of the wooded areas on the south. And we did run into some spiders. Normally one of us (or Ron) was keeping an eye on the road for spiders, and would give us a heads up. It was like someone saying "HIT THE DECK!!" during a naval war - we all ducked down behind the cab of the truck as quickly as we could - other peoples' body parts and spotlights connecting and jarring. But it didn't matter, we didn't want a spider on us. I felt extremely sheepish doing this until I realized that, really, I wasn't the only one. And all these burly game wardens, deputies, and farmers didn't like spiders either. Hah. Now who's chuckling??

The strangest thing about this week is that my days actually start at around 6:00. It is then I go out and set my mammal traps (ooh. And do I have stories about yesterday's catch, but I won't tell until I get the pictures from Emily). Then I eat a quick dinner and head over to HQ to meet everyone and get started on the census. That ends around 1:30 - 2:00. Then I go home for a 4 hour nap. Get up, eat something, and wonder why my eyes are so bloodshot. I check the mammal traps and the drift fences around 7:30 (can't do it any later because if I do have animals in the traps, they'll bake in the sun), maybe do some other type of work. Then I go home, eat something, and crash for the whole of the late morning and afternoon. I suppose that since this is when I'm getting the majority of my sleep, this is why it feels like my day actually starts at 6 pm instead of earlier at 7:30 am. It's very odd.

But keeping in line with that train of thought, it is very late for me, and time for me to get some shut eye. Hopefully I'll get to tell you about the mammal traps experience tomorrow.

ps - I didn't take any of the pics in this post. I'm falling behind, I know. But it's hard enough to combat spiders, record numbers, look through binoculars, and look at the road for Ron, let alone take pictures!

Four weeks already??

Sometime yesterday I realized that I'm already 4 weeks into my internship. How time flies!

Last week was pretty good. It was ridiculously hot in the afternoons. Friday was cloudy and spitted rain a little (thanks to a certain tropical storm that has since sent rain to flood Norman, Kingfisher, etc.) so while that took away the burning day-star, it made the day severely humid. Ah well.

On Thursday I did the South transect of the Horned lizard census on an ATV. There were several reasons to try this out, but the biggest one is that we weren't having much luck walking the transects. The refuge manager told me he saw several of them while driving, the assistant manager spooked up one on an ATV, a YCC (youth conservation corps) kid spooked up two on a mower. Hmm... Methinks I see a pattern. And, after thinking about it, I remember Dad used to always see them while he was mowing the pastures behind our house. So. I tried an ATV on Thursday. And nearly killed myself.

Let me explain. The south end of the transect (remember this is really an old railway with all the rails pulled up) had three bridges that have since been taken out. So what is left are three very deep ravines. They are all very overgrown. The S. end of the railway also is covered with this thick, big, loose pieces of gravel. Luckily for me, courtesy of refuge law enforcement, an ATV had made its way down the ravines a couple of days earlier, leaving me tracks in the thick grass. I came upon the first ravine and apprehensively followed the tracks straight down the incline (all my logic said to take it at an angle because going straight down brought visions of the atv flipping over me). I lost my nerve going back up and left the tracks and took the incline at the angle I thought I should. Well, I hit a patch of uneven gravel and felt my atv tip dangerously. I panicked a little, and hopped off the atv. I turned off the atv. Walked up the rest of the incline and put down my very heavy backpack. I pushed and pulled my atv back onto level (if still steep) ground. Gave a seconds thought to trying to pull the thing up the rest of the way, but quickly realized I was not Shera (sister to Heman). I tentatively got back on and drove up the rest of the way without mishap.

Okay, so maybe not "nearly killed myself" but still scary at the time.

I didn't encounter any other serious problems with the ATV after that. The other two ravines simply caused a thumping, nervous heart beat, but nothing more.

And, in the end, it was completely worth it because I did manage to get a horned lizard to running. And what's even better is that I managed to catch him. He was not happy to hang out with me, but we managed to get all the measurements recorded and all the photographs taken. Then he was let go to scurry back into the tall grass with nary a grateful glance for not eating him or otherwise harming him. These animals have no manners...
During the hot afternoons this week, I kept myself busy by calling for volunteers for our spotlight deer censusing, that will start tomorrow night. I called one the guy who takes charge of the YCC every summer to ask him. He and I didn't get to spend much time together, but we did chat some before the YCC was done for the summer. After we settled on the night for him to come out, he told me he had heard I was looking to apply for the job here. (It's really surprising - even for a small town girl - how quickly news travels around the refuge, and off of it, apparently) He told me he was glad I was applying, and that while he didn't get to know me very well, he thought I would be great for it, and if I needed someone to put in a good word for me, just to let him know.

Sigh. It's so nice to hear something like that. Really gave me a boost of confidence. Still need to talk to the refuge manager about it though...

On Thursday afternoon, the refuge biologist (the guy I've been doing the Least Tern censusing with) and I went driving. He wanted me to see the route we'll be taking for the spotlighting in the daylight. I think about 19 miles of actual census, and the rest will be traveling to the areas. It's hard to believe right now that 19 miles will take about 5 hours to census. There must be a lot of deer to count!

Friday morning, I checked my traps and the two drift fences close to the refuge (nada and nada), and then I went driving with Ron (refuge biologist) again. We drove to the very South tip of the refuge to show me where we'd be censusing there, and we also checked the last drift fence that I don't normally check. We were in his truck, which means that I didn't have my snake tongs or identification book.Sigh. Sure enough, now that I wasn't prepared, there was my first snake in one of the funnel traps. I had no idea what it was, and Ron had a hard time recalling the name. All this time, the snake is striking at Ron - very aggressive! In the end, Ron tells me we better take it in so we can identify it. I look at him with the complete trust of the amateur to the expert, completely confident he would show me how to do something like this. Then he says, "You have your gloves right? You better go get them..."

I think, "You want me to do wha.....?" (And to emphasize my thoughts, the snake strikes again. I flinch.Sure, he's not poisonous, but a snake bite is a snake bite!) I take a renewed interest in identifying him on the spot. So I ask Ron again, and finally he comes up with the name. The Great Plains Ratsnake, he thinks. We decide we'll let him go, and because he know what he looks like, we can look him up when we get back if need be. He then walks on, leaving me with the funnel trap and very upset ratsnake. More than a little nervous, I take off the end of the funnel trap and slide the snake out as far away from me as I can. He just sits there, coiled. Looking really cool, if also really menacing. I help check the rest of the traps and by the time I come back, he's gone. (By the way, I did not take that picture. I didn't even think about photographing the guy we caught. Sigh. I'll know better next time...)

After that adventure, I decide to go run the other end of the railway on the ATV. It's not very sunny, in fact, it's a very overcast day. But I thought the Horned Lizards might be out anyway. I loaded up the ATV on the back of my truck (no trailer because then I'd have to figure out how to back the stupid thing, and don't really feel like denting any government trucks in the learning process) and headed out to the north end of the railway.

As I suspected, no horned lizards. I saw a couple of prairie-lined racerunners though. On my way back, I actually spotted a Night Hawk sitting maybe about 15 feet in front of me. I slow down and rumble up to it. He looks at me, but does not move. I pull up right beside him and stop. He looks at me and shuffles over an inch. I swear it couldn't have been more than that. Hah. I love Night Hawks! It was like he was telling me he wasn't afraid of the big bad ATV. Of course, I know it wasn't that. My guess is he knows that his best bet of not being eaten is to stay completely still, regardless of how close danger may come. Because if he stays still enough, a predator may not see him. Hence why they only fly off at the last possible second. It's very interesting stuff.

His one inch shuffle amused me to no end, so I decided to take some pictures. I took several, and then wondered how close he would let me get. As soon as my feet touched the ground, he decided he'd had enough and took off. I hopped back on and continued on my way, only to come upon him again maybe 2 minutes later. He graciously offered me another angle to photograph. When I took what was to be my last picture, he opened up his beak, and I thought "oh perfect!". But then his beak started quivering - no, really! With the quivering lower lip and the big eyes, I gushed like the girl I am, and left him alone. Maybe that's a last defense to would-be predators - "I'm too cute to eat!!"

Who Called This Meeting?

The other day, when I was moving my traps from the Jet Rec area to the pasture land along Hwy 11, I noticed something extremely odd. Although, to be fair, Emily noticed it first, and pointed it out to me. We were driving past Cottonwood point (which is a stop off Hwy 38 to see the reservoir (there's also a boat ramp there, but I've been told numerous times it's not a good one)) when Emily pointed out all the many, many Turkey Vultures sitting in the trees there. We pulled off the road to take some pictures, and notice more along the ground. Just...sitting. We slowly drove up and saw nothing dead or out of the ordinary. They were just sitting. Together, all hanging out. My guess is they were talking about where all the good eating spots were along the highway.



But, after thinking about it, I realized that what it really reminded me of was this:

A Day at the Refuge

I have been trying to get my very own research project off the ground dealing with Ord's Kangaroo rats. (I would put a picture here, but as I haven't caught any yet I have no picture to put up. Grr.) I was loaned 77 Sherman Live Traps (of the large 15 inch variety - to accommodate for the long tails) and last Thursday I set up 39 on the South side of the refuge (by Jet) and the other 38 up North of Hwy 11, where I have, in fact, seen a Kangaroo rat. And then I smugly waited, more than sure that the next morning I would have 77 Kangaroo rats to weigh, measure, and photograph.

And then Nothing! By Tuesday morning, I had caught a total of 5 deer mice. So yesterday morning, when one of the maintenance men came to me with some new locations, I took him up on it. Basically, where I had the 39 South nests were by some farm fields that were about to be cultivated. So I was going to need to move them anyway. And I was told that there were lots and lots of them in this other area - right along Hwy 11. Yesterday morning, therefore, was spent moving and re-setting up traps. I even sacrificed some blood and skin to the cause when I tried to walk through a barbed wire fence hidden by lots and lots of overgrown grass. Last night, while I certainly was no longer smug, I was very optimistic. Expecting 39 Kangaroo rats this morning. And what do I find? Nothing. Well. I guess that isn't true. A fence lizard ran into a trap as I was checking it.

Speaking of, I now know exactly what a fence lizard looks like. I thought I had a good idea, because this little brown lizard kept getting trapped in one line of drift fences. But, the holes in the wire were big enough (and he was small enough) for him to fit through (which makes me wonder what he was doing in the trap in the first place) so I could never catch him to identify him beyond any shadow of a doubt. Well, yesterday I did manage to finally get him (and he is a him because he's more brown; females are more gray), and after confirming my suspicions, I took lots of pictures...

But I digress. Kangaroo Rats! I suppose I'll just try to be patient, but I don't like it. If worse comes to worst, I'll take a picture of a live trap for you. Not as cute as a kangaroo rat, though.

Yesterday afternoon, I went with Emily to Northwestern University to pick up a mounted golden eagle for our display. The museum they have there (viewed by appointment only) is really interesting. The coolest thing, though, was a mammoth tusk found in the Reservoir during the 1940s. You know, you always hear that mammoths and the like were here in present-day Oklahoma, but you don't really think about it. Or at least I don't. And then I see something like that, and it really amazes me.

This morning, after being mocked and laughed at by the hundreds of Kangaroo rats too good for my traps, I hitched up my first trailer and loaded up a 4 wheeler and headed out to the salt flats. I learned that hitching up a trailer isn't so bad, and driving a trailer is easy, and backing a trailer is ridiculously hard. Luckily, I didn't have to back that much. At the Salt Flats, I checked on one of our last unfinished tern nests. No eggs, and nobody in the nest, but 6 adults screaming at me. They really gave the game away with their aggression - I knew there had to be chicks nearby. So I used their changing level of their aggression to guide me around the natural debris, and came upon a little piece of driftwood. Instead of looking around it (these chicks are so hard to see sometimes!), I picked it up and Voila! an adorable little yellow speckled chick wobbled a bit and looked at me as if to say "What did you do with my shade?!" I gooed and gushed and took lots of pictures. At one point, tired of the sun or my shiny canine teeth, the chick wobbled back under the stick. The adults, completely certain I was about to devour their investment, pooped on me. Sigh. It was only a little, so I suppose I should count my blessings. I found the other chick without too much trouble, and he didn't get any photos taken of him (he can blame his parents, I didn't want more poop decoration).

I was out at the flats just last Wednesday, and as I did last week, I took a little tour around the Salt Flats - to try to get myself knowledgeable about where things are. I took a picture last week of a marsh with a bridge. This was actually man made. Once upon a time, they were digging for fresh water out there, and all they found was salty water. So dug a hole and put the salty water in there. Then it became a marsh. Last week it was full of shore birds and plants. This week, with this heat, it was completely dry. Here are my before and after shots:

Other than that, my afternoon has consisted of calling for volunteers for our spotlighting deer census that will happen every night next week. I'm signed up to help out Monday through Thursday. I hope spotlighting is still as fun as I remembered. Haha. Maybe I only think it's fun because a certain friend of my sneaked in some punch and vodka. Don't think that will happen this time...

Adventures with Refuge Law Enforcement

Well, last week was a busy one. I'm continuing to learn by leaps and bounds. On the administrative front, I think I've surprised the assistant manager of the refuge by how quickly I've gotten through most of the data entry stuff he needed me to do. Heh. But when it's as hot as it's been during the afternoons, there's not much to do but inside work. So I'll turn on some good music, and start plugging in information. Now I'm completely caught up with what they've given me, and waiting for more.

Also during my afternoons and time off, I've been doing a little bit of a job search. There's a conservation assistant job in Chicago that I'm applying for, and two internships. One is in California dealing with Big Horned Sheep, and the other is in Washington dealing with shorebirds. Dealing with this kind of weather, my preferences are leaning toward the one in Washington! There also is a possibility of being hired full time here. That's also very exciting because I am in love with the refuge. Of course, as some of the visitors keep telling me, this is an uncommonly pretty summer. Normally everything isn't so green.

So on Friday not many people were here. Two of my supervisors work 9 hour days, so they get every other Friday off. That day fell on last Friday, so they were gone. The refuge biologist is taking his vacation time right now, and he won't be back until next week. So, late on Friday morning I was busy finishing up some of the data entry when one of our maintenance guys walked in the office with a Carls Jr. bag. He told me to close my eyes and open up my hand. Knowing it was going to be some type of live creature, I did as he asked, but with some hesitation. He, of course, doesn't know about my strong dislike of anything with 8 legs. I knew as soon as it was put in my hand that it was a Texas Horned Lizard - a big one at that. She was a beauty - a full 10 cm long. That's the biggest one I've seen in awhile. He found her on the side of the highway coming back from Enid. The assistant manager/herp. guy told him to give it to me and for me to take it out to the railway. So I weighed and measured her, and took some pictures (and of course petted her horns and her stomach to make her sleep). Then she and I took a drive. Maybe I'll catch her again on my walks out there.

Saturday after my day at the visitor's center, I drove to Enid to watch Stardust and spend the night with Emily and her husband. I played a Wii for the first time - lots of fun.

On Sunday, for the most part I had a very lazy day. Hanging out in my pjs - reading, watching movies, and playing the piano (you know. the Norm.). I made my way over to the office to check email and do other internet type things. On my way back, I ran into my police officer neighbor. I convinced him to take me along on his rounds. We traveled along many of the backroads I didn't know about yet, and generally got an in depth tour of the refuge. He showed me a deer stand set up in private property but situated to shoot deer on the refuge - which is, of course, not allowed. He told me this was going to be his biggest job this fall. It was a fun and informative drive; I'm glad he let me come with him. He was a big surprised I hadn't made it out on the lake or seen the island yet. (the island isn't for people. Rather it's a great big rookery.)

So today was another day off for me - my "no alarm clock Monday". And, true to my nature on non-work days, I slept in til noon and then read in bed for another couple of hours. I had finally got up and showered at about 2:30. I was almost on my way out the door to do my weekly grocery shopping when my neighbor dropped by again. He told me I should change out of my flip flops otherwise my feet would get sunburned. I asked him why and he said he was gonna take me out on the lake on the air boat (has to be an air boat because the lake is so shallow). Super excited, I quickly changed my shoes, but neglected to get out of my black t-shirt. The lake was wonderful. It really showcases all the different habitats of the refuge because the Salt Flats, the marshes, the creeks, the woods, the prairies all border it. We saw lots of pelicans and cormorants (I love cormorants!).

(I did not take this picture!)

So we eventually made our way to the island. He asked me if I wanted to stop and walk around and, of course, I said yes. So we stopped and looked around. It was amazing! There are still so many active nests. I saw many egret and cormorant babies. At about this point I realize that it is getting hard to breathe - it almost feels like the heat is pushing against me. There wasn't much of a breeze on the island, and it was extremely smelly. Then I start feeling dizzy and nauseous. Then I start seeing spots. My neighbor noticed something was wrong, asked me if I was okay, and then went to get the boat. I stood in the shade and thought I was either going to throw up or faint. But by the time he brought the boat around, I had recovered enough to walk down to the shore and hop in. I think I worried Shelby, but I reassured him enough to continue with our tour. We went down the creek that connects Sand Hill Bay with the Reservoir (the picture is of the Bay). We went through lots of water plants that deposited lots of spiders into our boat. Three onto my legs and one on my shoe. But, my three weeks at the refuge have conditioned me and prepared me for something like this. I just, very carefully, flicked them all off me. But I did give serious thought to jumping off the boat, and for the remainder of our trip, I kept one eye to the bottom of the boat where all the spiders were scuttling about. *shudder*.

When we made it back to dry land and Shelby realized that I really was fully recovered, he started teasing me. All good naturedly. Sigh. I was afraid of this. My reputation is shot. Now I'm going to be that "intern who's sensitive to heat". I told and re-told him that nothing like that has ever happened to me, and if I needed to, I would prove my heat endurance with a 5 mile run in the afternoon. A complete bluff, and he knew it too. Ah well. I can take a little teasing. At least it'll give them something besides OU to tease me about. ;)

Mary Jane and other Highs and Lows - August 4, 2007

So, Emily and I were driving around earlier in the week, I believe it was Thursday, and Emily mentioned something about all the marijuana at the refuge. I looked at her and said "Wha....??" And she told me to look along the fence lines and sure enough - covered with wild marijuana plants.

And the real kicker is that the state of Oklahoma planted them up here on purpose. Apparently, they are really good at stabilizing the soil. The only problem is that this non native plant took to OK soil really well. And now they can't get rid of it. The result is wild marijuana along most of the fence posts up here. It's even in Enid, right around the corner from a school!

I've been told it's not very good to smoke, because it's not "cultivated" and that it won't make a person high. I'm still highly amused though. I'm itching to go take some pictures and put it in the plant book. After all, it is a plant, and it is found on the refuge!

EDIT: So, after a recent convo with my refuge police officer neighbor, the state of OK is kinda cool with keeping it around because quail and dove love the seeds. And Oklahomans love hunting quail and dove. He also hasn't encountered many problems with it. Some people will pick it to water down their stuff to make it sell further, or they will try to plant their cultivated stuff amongst the "ditch weed" to keep it hidden. Then you have the okies who think they've hit the land of milk and honey. But those are few and far between.

On the "experiencing new things" front, this week I had three roommates. Hah. It was only Wednesday through Friday, but it sure felt like a full week. They were all pretty pleasant to chat with. It was an OSU grad student and two technicians, one who was my age, and one who was older. All very fun to sit around the table and chat with. However, they don't make very good roommates. Or maybe they do, and I've just been so spoiled that no roommate is a good roommate (you have to understand, I haven't had to deal with a roommate in over 3 years). Let's see. On my grievance list, they shoved all my food to the back of the fridge to make room for theirs, they left their dirty dishes in the sink, they didn't clean out the coffee pot, the grad student smoked, and left his cig. butts in beer bottles out on the front porch and didn't throw those away, the grad student took off with my pink lighter, they broke a couple of my packing boxes, and they tracked dirt and stickers all through the house.

So. By Friday afternoon I was pretty tense. However, they cleaned up, for the most part, before they left. The woman swept and did the dishes, and the beer bottles and 1 of the broken boxes were thrown away. They hid the other one under my other boxes. My lighter is still gone, and the coffee pot still needed to be cleaned out. The stickers are slowly leaving the house. I'm using a very technical method of finding them. That is, I step on them, yell and cuss, and then throw them away. Anyhoot, not too shabby for roommates, I guess. They're coming back too. In a couple of weeks. It is then when I will get my pink lighter back from Smoky McSmokerson. :)

Because of the roommates and a slight disenchantment with the least tern guy that I'm working with, this week was not as good as last week. But on the plus side, we finally saw 2 horned lizards on our census yesterday, along with a Great Plains toad, numerous Woodhouse toads, numerous Prairie-lined lizards (which is shown in the picture), a black widow, two newborn mice (who were being made a meal of by ants. We saved them so they could be a snack for a pet snake), and Night Hawks, and a Night Hawk chick. Pretty cool day, and Night Hawks are quickly going up there on my list o' favorite birds. The chicks will hang out on a road, and be extremely well camouflaged. This makes them the world's most daring when it comes to playing Chicken. With a car coming down the road, they will wait til the very last second before abandoning their hiding spot. This sometimes means fatalities, but more often it means a very startled reaction from the driver, who thought that she was actually paying attention to the road very well.










Next week the number of my tasks increases. I'll be continuing with the Horned Lizard survey, maybe a little more Tern work, and the Plant book and data entry, as always. But I will also be starting my very own (publishable?) research on the Ord's Kangaroo rat, and I will start spraying the Salt Cedar that is threatening to take over the refuge. Then I think we're starting the deer censusing next week, and I need to start boning up on the environmental education programs. I got a crash course yesterday that was pretty overwhelming. Emily ended up giving me some enormous books on the subject. That should help pass the time while I'm up here at the office today.

Parents are also coming today, hopefully they'll get here about 3:00. Very excited to see them! Mom and I are going to do lots of cooking this visit so I have some casseroles and stuff to eat over the week.

Since I've been here I've been noticing a different way of speaking. It's almost like going abroad. :) "success" and "successful" becomes "sussess" and "sussessful". "Suffice" becomes "Surffice". "Woodward" becomes "Woodard" (and you kind of swallow that first "d" so it almost sounds like "Wooard").

And, when my mail got sent to the wrong address, the person at the address wrote "Do not live here" - Reading it was almost like hearing it, which equates with something like hearing nails on a chalkboard or hearing Styrofoam rubbing and squeaking together.

I also am bombarded with orange. Lots and lots of it. And as football season gets closer, the more I get teased because of my boomer sooner love. Therefore, anyone with a good OSU joke - please feel free to tell me. I need to start retorting. Apparently, every intern gets their very own nickname. The last one was called "dude" because he acted like a "dude" - the kind that belongs on the movie "dude where's my car". So far, it appears my nickname is "Boomer sooner". Haha, I kinda like it.

Alright. I could probably continue to ramble on, but this is probably enough for now. :)

Wilderness - July 31, 2007

So yesterday I was told that there is actually a distinct part of the refuge called "the wilderness". I looked around my surroundings, in the middle of dense woodland, and thought that slightly ironic.

Weather has been a bit nicer this week. We had some rain and dangerous looking clouds yesterday, and I think our high was 85. Beautiful! It was such a waste that it was my day off and I didn't have to work. This morning was also cloudy and misty, but it cleared up this afternoon. I actually didn't spend the day here, I went to Wichita KS to take a look at their Prairie Center. Very pretty trails, and a pretty cool visitor's center. They have a couple of captive screech owls, and one captive burrowing owl. Sigh. I think the burrowing owl is my favorite owl, and at the top of my list of favorite birds. They're just so small and yet so haughty and pissed off looking. That is, until one makes his eyes really big and turns his head upside down. Then he is just too adorable for words. And then of course the chicks - lol. Cotton balls on toothpicks I swear.

Getting into the Refuge Groove - July 28, 2007

It's Saturday. Still a working day for me. But today, unlike the other days, I am in the office, answering phones and seeing visitors. Also reading, and supposed to be doing other computer work that doesn't get done during the week. That hasn't started yet. I promised myself I'd get started after lunch (today's hours are 10:00 - 5:00, so I have plenty of time) but by the time I got back here at 12:30, I had visitors. They're still here, browsing around the visitor's center. It's really pretty cool.

I have learned an unbelievable amount - especially for just one week of work. My projects include, thus far, a Texas horned lizard census (Horny Toads to most of us), Least Tern census, Drift fence census (It's a type of live trap set up that is supposed to catch toads, frogs, lizards, and snakes - and apparently lots and lots of wolf spiders. Sigh. I'm quickly learning to deal with that dreaded, huge, prey-hunting spider), and the Plant Book.

The Plant book was actually started last summer. An intern went out and took pictures of plants/trees/shrubs on the refuge. This is a huge undertaking as the refuge is home to many different types of habitats - grasslands, salt flats, woods, lake, swamps, wheat pastures, etc. The girl that started this last year focused mainly on the flowering plants. I'm focusing on the trees. So I'll walk around during free time and take pictures. If I don't know the tree, I'll take a cutting with me and identify it back in the office. It's been pretty fun, and very interesting. I can already identify a lot of the trees off the sides of the roads. I make pretty and informative pages of the pictures, and put them in the plant book that goes in the visitor's center. The idea is for the visitor to see the book and maybe be able to identify the plants on their own when they're exploring.

My favorite project has to be the Least Terns. Going out on the salt flats is a lot of fun - until the wind dies and it gets super, super hot. I'm definitely comfortable on a four-wheeler now, and the birds themselves are very interesting. I have found out what is "least" about them - other than their small size, that is. It's their nests! They basically consist of a little hole scratched out in the sand. They make these little holes around natural debris - sticks/logs/dried up plants. This is supposed to offer some type of camo, but coyotes are smart, and we've seen tracks that go from one pile of debris to the next. Coyotes have been a problem for the terns this year. Their eggs are the definition of "easy prey". The chicks are pretty easy prey as well. Many birds who nest on the ground (killdeer, plovers, etc.) have chicks who are up and running around within a couple hours of hatching. Not flying, but at least they can run. Not so with the least tern chicks. They sit until they are ready to fly. The only thing we've seen thus far is that they will gradually move away from the nest the older they get. So they don't run, but they do move a foot or so before they start with the sitting and waiting again. All I can say is, no wonder they're endangered! The parents do what they can, but that's just some serious dive-bombing action. One actually got mere inches from my head. They squawk in your ear as they do it. It can be startling. But nothing like what the Killdeer will do (they're the birds who act like they have a broken wing to lure the predator away).

But we have had some success with the Terns. Just yesterday we saw 5 hatched chicks. Once upon a time, I believed that all baby birds were ugly (this being when swallows and sparrows were my only point of reference). However. These least tern chicks are the cutest and fluffiest little birds ever. I cooed like a girl when I saw one for the first time - much to the amusement of the biologist I'm working with. It's alright though. I am, after all, a girl.

Another project I'm going to really enjoy, I think, is the Horny toad census. There used to be railroad track that ran through the southern (southwestern maybe, my directions are still a little hazy up here) tip. That was closed down and the tracks were pulled up. The railway however, has remained in tact for the most part. They are thinking of making that into another nature trail. But that area is wonderful horny toad habitat, and the horny toad is a "species of concern" (not endangered, or threatened, but close). So we want to see how many are actually in the area, so we can determine what kind of impact a nature trail might have on them. My job is to walk the railway, and count the number of horny toads I see. I'm also supposed to catch them, weigh and measure them, and sex them (have no idea how to do that yet). This project will start in earnest next week, because most of my mornings this past week have been taken up with the Terns.

So yeah. Doing lots of varied fun stuff. It's been great so far. It's really too bad it's still so hot outside. But such is the way of summers in Oklahoma. My "bunkhouse" is still great. I had a visitor on Thursday night. He was here to help us with the terns on Friday. Apparently I can expect to share the house like this from time to time with volunteers and researchers. I'm expecting Gerard Butler to stop in to volunteer at the refuge any time now.

Other than refuge life, I'm doing lots of movie watching, book reading, and piano playing. And I haven't even exhausted my knowledge of cooking yet. Course, by the time I get home in the afternoons, I'm normally too weary to want to cook so much. So I haven't been very adventurous in the kitchen. I suspect that'll change once I get tired of spaghetti and sandwiches. :)

My off days are Sunday and Monday - I'm planning on exploring the towns a bit more, maybe making some casseroles, and then more movie watching, book reading, and piano playing. Maybe some bike riding to mix things up a bit.

Exploring - July 22, 2007

Greetings from God's Country!

So. Things are going well here. I'm learning that no dishwasher means I keep my kitchen cleaner than I used to. It's awfully strange, but I'm washing dishes after every meal, and then putting them away the same day. This is so unlike me. Let's hope it sticks long enough for it to become an ingrained habit.

Not having cable tv is a bit more of a challenge to get used to. I suppose I just got used to there being noise in my house whenever I was in it. I used to walk in the door and flip on the tv and then go about my chores (ha! chores. I mean sitting on the couch and watching it for an hour before I actually got up and did something useful.) So, now I'm adapting by listening to music as I do things - read, wash dishes (no lie), make food, etc. etc. And, this city girl isn't even missing fast food all that much. I'm handling this whole 'cook for every meal everyday thing' pretty well so far. Of course, I shouldn't get too ahead of myself here. This is, after all, day 2 1/2.

Yesterday I met the guy I'm going to be working a lot with. He's the lizard/snake/turtle guy - aka, the herpetology guy. His official title is "Assistant Refuge Manager," and I was surprised to learn he's only 24. He was slightly abashed by my lack of knowledge when it came to four wheelers, 4X4 trucks, changing oil, pulling trailers, etc. etc. Oh well, he is going to quickly going to see how quickly I learn and how hard I (can) work. He did teach me how to drive a 4 wheeler yesterday, and that ended up being lots of fun. Those things go fast! He told me that starting tomorrow I will be driving one a lot - as the Least Terns nests are on the Salt Flats, and 4 wheelers are the quickest way to get across the flats.

So today I explored my way to Alva. On my way I saw lots and lots of beautiful country. I'm very excited about exploring more of that. I also saw a 3-way street sign that pointed to "hither, thither, and yon". Hah. I was so charmed I took a picture. Alva itself is a quaint little town. Lovely little super WalMart that claims to be open 24 hours. I found out through the ass. manager that helped bag my stuff that 4 people called in sick today (I'm sure that means they were down to half staff). As for the "social life" I was promised, there is a Paw Paw's gifts and more shop, a very friendly meth-junkie lady at the local Subway, and a Friends of the NRA banquet. It also appears, from the sign at the visitor's center, that the rodeo was just through town. I also got many leers from old men with missing teeth.

On the plus side of Alva, the university looks really pretty, but I didn't have time to go exploring around there. And downtown, as happens in small towns, is very pretty with nice architecture. Also, some great houses - the kind that you know have ghosts in them. And, Alva has it's very own street of churches. Yep, a whole street with church after church. Each with their own billboard questioning your faith, or somesuch. My favorite was "the Straight and Narrow street has the lowest number of accidents"

So after Alva, I came home, unloaded and put away all my new stuff. Then I decided it was well past time for me to go exploring. So I put on some field clothes, sprayed on the bug spray I hoped would repel bugs (it's kind of a lighter, "feel clean" spray and all. I was just optimistic enough that it would work.) and headed off down the nature trail with my camera, mace, and water bottle (hey! I don't know what's out there!). First thing out of my door I see deer. Yep. Deer grazing right outside the door to my bedroom. They stood still long enough for me to take lots of pictures. Then it was off down the trail.

I learned fairly quickly that I'm gonna have to upgrade my bug spray. Sigh. I have the "deep woods" stuff. I just don't like using it. Nothing will want to touch me, I know, but that means I don't want to touch me either. I also remembered what Emily mentioned on Friday - that there are flies here with blades for mouthparts that will slice open your skin and lick your blood. Methinks the deep woods spray would be a small sacrifice to pay for not having to deal with those beasties.

Anyhoot. Saw lots of fun things - beautiful woods, big, beautiful bay (called the Sand Creek Bay, I believe), lots of birds (one hawk, one owl, lots of cranes). Heard lots of fun things (insects buzzing around head not being counted here) - like bullfrogs, woodpeckers, big heavy wing beats from the herons. The nature trail makes one big circle. I was about half-way through when I looked ahead on the trail and spotted a carnivore who had spotted me. I swear it looked like a big dark cat. I was far enough away from it that I didn't feel threatened, just acutely aware. I turned around and went back the other way. Turned back to see if it was still there (or stalking me, maybe) and I saw it crouched down in the tall grasses. I made my way quickly back to the road. I assumed it was a bobcat, but it looked a lot darker and bigger than one. Not big like mountain lion big though. When I made it back to the beginning of the trail, I read the info. It said the only carnivores in the area were coyotes. So, I guess that's what it was. Sure looked like a cat though.

And saw lots and lots more deer. Took lots more pictures - they let me get so close! Even took some video with my digital camera. They eventually ran away from me. But not far, they "hid" behind a cedar tree. And then when I passed them, they started following me. haha. good times. I'm sure someone feeds them, but until I know it's okay (these deer are hunted, you see. They shouldn't be as unafraid of humans as they are) they will get nothing from me.

So. Fun day of explorations. First actual day is tomorrow. I'm pretty excited. And also pretty nervous. I hope I do well. :) Wish me luck!

New Home - July 20, 2007

Well. I am super crazy tired, my back is super crazy sore, and the humidity and temp (even though is it practically 7:30) up here at the Salt Plains is outrageous (in a super crazy kind of way).

However. I am moved in. I am no longer a resident of Norman, OK; Cleveland Co. I am in God's Country circa Jet, Oklahoma; Alfalfa Co.

The house I'm living in for the next three months has exceeded all my expectations. Every room is big, especially the kitchen and bathroom (which, for those of you who frequented the condo know that's a big change for me). With a little house warming additions a la Jenn in the way of pillows, pictures, candles, dried flowers, and one beautiful black piano, the "bunkhouse" has really become a place to call home.

And, best of all, I have my very own washer and drier. That makes me so happy. I haven't had one of those since I lived in the sorority house, and even then I had to share with ~60 other girls. Sadly, there is no dishwasher. But I'm so happy about my washer and drier that I don't even care....yet. Random note: I'm gonna have to get used to a twin bed all over again. I've been able to sprawl out on a full for 3 years now. Heh. I'm so tired though, I doubt I'll much notice the difference.

I met the girl who hired me, and we had a nice, long chat. She's great. A lot younger than I thought she'd be. I'd call her my boss, except that I'm getting the impression that everyone here is going to be my boss. I got my schedule today, keeping in mind that everything is open for change. Next week I'll be working with one guy on the Least Tern censusing (it's a bird. Here: http://www.outbackphoto.com/nature/2001/texasbirds/LeastTerns.jpg) I'll let you know what is "least" about it when that knowledge becomes available. After next week, I'll be working with another boss on Texas horned lizard censusing. On Saturdays, for the most part, I'll be working the front office, and Sundays and Mondays will probably be my days off. And - drum roll please - it looks like I might be able to get off for the whole of Austin City Limits. YAY!!!!!!! Go check out who's gonna be playing this year, and maybe you'll see why I'm so excited. Namely - Muse, Blue October, the Killers, Amy Winehouse, Regina Spektor, Arcade Fire, the list goes on and on.

But I digress. Back to the biggest shift in what has become a lifestyle for me: internet is no longer available at my fingertips. While the new bunkhouse is, in fact, brand new, big, and comfortable, it has no internet and no way to fix that. (no cable, either, but that's not such a big deal. I prolly watch too much tv as it is, and what I do watch tends to be reruns. Damn, digressing again!) So, how am I communicating to the world at large? Well. The office, which is right next door to my house has a computer just for me. Well, not really. It's the "anyone without an office with their own computer and internet hookup" computer. (AWAOWTOCAIH for short.) I can use it whenever I want when I'm not working because I have my very own key to the office. Pretty cool, huh?

Let's see. I think that's about it for my update. And, as I thought, it takes about 3 hours to get here, mas o menos. And I want to give a huge public THANK YOU to my dad for being my hero. We had a fun, if physically exhausting, day today. More importantly, there was no way I could have gotten all this done without him.