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an international tarantula fishing destination...

We weren't sure when we started if the tarantula would take the bait.   Chris was pretty sure the spider would be into it...he had evidence.   Earlier in the morning when he had come up to check on his katydids he saw that one of his bags was suspiciously dragged to the drain in the floor.  When he pulled out the bag the tarantula came too.  That gave him the idea to go tarantula fishing.   

The katydid was already a goner even though the tarantula hadn't been able to get into the bag it had managed to maim the katydid through the plastic!    So Lisa and Chris tied the mostly dead katydid to a string and tied the string to a stick.    After that it was pretty easy, just let the tarantula get all excited for dinner and then pull - wahhhlaa there is a tarantula staring you in the face!

Its been an intense few days, though not filled with as many adventures.  I raced around the marsh trying to finish gathering data points for my independent project.  (I got in way deeper than I'd ever meant to go - I guess I found a swamp sink hole)  I realized after a day into the project that I should be quantifying more about what is in the marsh and spending less time on useless feeding trials in the lab...the snails just weren't interested in captivity... consequently they were lab organisms.   Even after I starved them for 48 hours they wouldn't eat.   I think I am lucky though - at least they didn't bite and their escape attempts were invariably unsuccessful.  

The field work yielded much more promising results but it was exhausting and dirty.  It seems that the snail has a preference for native habitat so there could be some potential conservation applications for a longer term study. 

Tonight there is an end of the first 1/5 of the course party!   Then we go to bed and tomorrow we leave for Cabo Blanco.  I'm excited to be near the ocean.  I am sad not to have internet access - this will be the last entry for a little while. 

Palo Verde has been a great visit.  The cooks have been really fun and they've helped me manage to avoid milk which is often a struggle when you're not cooking for yourself.   But it is amazing this system...it is like constant subsidy...you go out into the field and come back dirty and sweaty and someone feeds you then you take your plate up to the counter and someone does the dishes...you can get so much done cause you never need to think about eating....you just come and go and make sure you get there in time...it is mostly rice and beans, but I don't mind there is never milk in rice and beans!

Well I've been thinking of you all in your various parts of the world, and hope that this message finds you well.

check out this toad that lives in the swamp

the only snail that really ate in the lab...at least it chose a native!