The purpose of the veg work is to detect differences in habitat selection among females of different states (mothers vs non-mothers and mothers with older infants versus newborns). At the beginning of my focal observations I record the location of the female by taking a GPS point where I am in the car and then measuring the distance to the focal animal with a rangefinder and the bearing from the car to her with a compass. Then I return later, park the car at the GPS point and follow the compass the necessary distance until I am (approximately) in the same spot the female was in when I watched her. Starting from this point, I study the vegetation along a 25 meter transect. Every meter I poke a thin metal pin into the ground and then count how many leaves and stems are touching the pin. I also note whether the stems and leaves are green or brown and measure the height of the tallest piece of veg in contact with the pin. I have helped with other much slower transects for which the species of each piece of vegetation had to be identified. I am glad that that level of detail is beyond my needs.
I also try to characterize the hiding spots of infants I observe. I note the spots during my focal observations and then return later with a 50x50cm piece of cardboard I've colored in 10x10 black and white squares. I think put the cardboard in the hiding spot and take photos of it at 2, 5, 10, 25, and 50 meters away. I take a photo from my knees, to imitate the viewpoint of a cheetah, and one from a low crouch, to imitate the viewpoint of a jackal. By looking at the pictures and estimating how much of the grid is covered, I can figure out how hidden the infant was in that spot. Since the grass is so high, I've had a harder time finding infant hiding spots than I expected, so I've only done a few of these so far.
My first day of veg work was Wednesday. John and I went out at 7 am. I had donned Nathan's canvas snake leggings, which he had left at Mpala, for the occasion. They were slightly large, but they did the job. I think it's fairly unlikely that I will run across a snake, but better safe than sorry. The morning started out really well. It was nice to be out of the car, walking around, and getting to know the landscape in a different way. I saw many interesting insects and butterflies I just wouldn't notice from the car. The morning was cool and pleasant, despite that I was soaked from the knees down within ten minutes due to the dew and the previous night's rain.
Around 9:30, the sun came out in earnest. It got hot very quickly. Somewhere around my 7th transect I started to get head rushes when I stood up because I had spent so much time squatting and because my water intake was fairly low. As in none. I have a lot to carry on the transects (meter stick, pin, notebook, GPS, rangefinder, compass) so the water bottle stayed in the car. At just before 1 I finished my eleventh transect. I had hoped to complete around ten all day, so I was really happy to find that my pace was quicker than expected. I returned John to the staff camp and rushed home for lunch.
When I got out of the car, the consequences of my productive morning began to assert themselves. I quickly downed almost a full pitcher of water at lunch and polished off a ton of food. Then I noticed that my legs felt like lead and the balls of my feet felt like I'd pounded them a few hundred times with a hammer. I began silently cheering on the approaching rain clouds: if it was raining I couldn't go out for more in the afternoon because my notebook would get soaked. Happily, the rain came just in time and I arranged with John to put off the next veg session until Saturday morning and then went out to do focal work.
The next two days were agony for my legs. 11 transects equates to 275 low squats, which was a little more than I was prepared for after a month and a half of no lower body excercise beyond operating the pedals of my car and walking between places to sit. My legs objected to any and all movement and my quads absolutely refused to hold my weight past a certain angle. Sitting down in chairs became a sort of free fall punctuated by groans and yelps instead of a controlled descent. When I had to step up or down to go in and out of buildings, I looked like I'd just had both my hips replaced.
Things had not improved by Saturday morning, but out I went. After the first few agonizing pin drops my body decided to relent a bit and I loosened up. I was still making funny noises and half-falling over at points. John watched the show amusedly while enjoying his mid-morning cigar(?!?). He probably thought I deserved it for dragging him out there so I could fiddle with grass and photograph cardboard all morning. Still, I made it through the 8 transects and four photo points I wanted to get done, so it was a good morning.
All in all, I do enjoy the veg work. It's a break from my normal routine and a chance to actually interact with the ecosystem instead of just observing from my wheeled bubble. Also I've somehow avoided getting any ticks so far, which helps. I am still moderately sore but yesterday's work seems to have taken the edge off. Hopefully if I can make this a regular activity I won't have to suffer the soreness from here on out.
No comments:
Post a Comment