Jan 25-- Bad Day at Black Rock

Wednesday, January 25, 2006
Casita #2

Not a very good day for me. I get up early and take my weekly malaria pill as it is Wednesday. After the usual breakfast by candlelight under the casita, we climb to the mist nets and spend the morning capturing and banding birds.

Large Fruit-eating Bat

This morning after opening the mist nets in the dark, we again net a bat. Because we are short staffed and Pascual has no birds to band immediately, Susan volunteers him to help Cathy free the bat—this one a Large Fruit-eating Bat. [ I pulled up a photo (left) of what I think is the right species. It looks like the one below that was caught inithe mist net. Cathy did identify the bat as a fruit-eating bat in our field guide, and described it as having large ears and a nose leaf, so I think I have the correct bat.]

While they are doing this, I suffer a bout of diarrhea. The 20 mist nets are spread out--10 spaced apart in both directions along and just off the trail--so I must get beyond the last mist net before I can be assured any privacy. (We’ve been told not to relieve ourselves off the trail—too dangerous.) Though I hurry as fast as the mud and my swollen feet will allow, I dirty my underwear and create a mess. I clean up as best I can, taking off the underwear and placing a panty liner in my field pants, all the while fearful that one of the staff or volunteers will come upon me in this embarrassing moment.

Finally I’ve got things under control, so start back to the banding table. I meet Susan who has come looking for me. With me gone and Pascual and Cathy freeing the bat she has no assistance at the banding table. She asks, “Should you be hiking around on those feet?” I am too embarrassed to tell her what really required my absence. On the way back, we have to pass the net lane where Pascual and Cathy are working on freeing the bat. Just as we pass, Pascual lets out a frightened roar and Cathy bursts into laughter. Turns out that for a moment Pascual stood holding the bat, not realizing that it was free. When he did realize, he flung the poor creature from him in panic. It hit a nearby tree and stayed there for awhile, probably exhausted  and stunned after its ordeal. This tale is told over and over and Pascual is teased for the remainder of the expedition.

At the banding table Carlos gives me a look. I instantly know that he had seen my predicament and sent Susan. Later in the morning, when no one but Susan and I are at the banding table, I have a little crying jag. Clearly I am not up to par. Susan, who is taking the same malaria medicine as I, explains that one of its side effects is emotional upset. I think that I am also feeling guilty and sorry for myself because I cannot pull my share. My feet are so bad that I cannot work the mist nets and must stay at the banding table recording data . . .  It’s no consolation that I am 12 years older than the next oldest person (Cathy) on the expedition. Just the opposite. I do not want to be handicapped by age.

When we climb down for lunch, I find the clean clothes that Jose has brought up, wash my panties out in the shower area, clean myself up, and change into blessedly fresh, new, clean duds. Already I feel my spirits lifting. Susan however, thinks that I should stay at the casita for the afternoon rather than climb to the ridge or the hummingbird pasture where teams are going to do veggie mapping and final hummingbird trapping.

Marlene stays down too, as her legs have become infected, swollen, and painful, so she, too, finds walking difficult. Isadora and Amelia, our cooks, with Mauricio’s advice, treat Marlene’s legs by first rubbing them with limes, then with alcohol, then breaking some of the blisters, and finally applying a gooey ointment. Poor Marlene is in tears during this primitive and painful process. The jungle is getting to us.

We are out of drinking water and have to boil what river water we have.

Just before bed, Felix arrives with drinking water, having ridden up on these narrow treacherous trails from El Suspiro in the dark!  Jessica, has packed her things and is ready to ride back down with him. She must be back home tomorrow morning for some reason. Jessica is Pascual’s girlfriend and became cook’s assistant at his request. The two are very lovey-dovey, holding hands, stealing kisses, showering together etc. It’s a complicated relationship. Jessica claims to have met Pascual while she was in the hospital having a baby (Pascual's?). For his part, Pascual is married and has children of his own, one of whom is hospitalized with fever and dehydration while Pascual is up here with Earthwatch. I do not know whether Pascual is divorced. Apparently it is not a prerequisite to having a girlfriend. Marlene tells me that Latin men often have a girlfriend as well as a wife.

Cloud Forest Pygmy Owl

All this aside, Pascual has a great sense of fun and a phenomenal ear for birds. He can identify all birds by their calls. Often he will be in the midst of banding a bird and suddenly his head will come up and he will say, for instance, “cloud forest pygmy owl.”  It is only then that all of us realize that we’ve been hearing this bird also.

We get to sleep in until 7 tomorrow morning. It rains all night and the frogs and wood wrens sing . . . as do the howler monkeys, seemingly close to camp.

Below are some images of howler monkeys from the Net. In reading about them, I find that they are the loudest monkey and the loudest land animal in the world. Only the blue whale is louder. While their howl is not piercing, it can travel for 3 miles through the dense forest. Male howler monkeys use their big voices to defend their turf.