Following wild animals in their natural habitat can bring the thrill of discovery, the pride of accomplishment, and the exhilaration of adventure. But nobody ever said it was easy. Here are two accounts of the vicissitudes of field work from graduate students in the Department of Ecology, Evolution and Behavior.
KARYL WHITMAN studies lions, under the direction of Craig Packer, in the Maswa Game Reserve of northern Tanzania. Her nearest neighbors are three hours away by car; the nearest phone is six hours. In base camp, she lives in a large tent. Water comes from a local spring and must be boiled. She does laundry by packing a bucketful of clothes, water, and detergent in a vehicle and driving all day.
Speaking of vehicles, Whitman drives a Land Rover that breaks down frequently. A little duct tape and rubber tubing fixes most things, but often she must get help by radio from a mechanic who speaks only Swahili.
When in the field she sleeps in a pup tent, an object of curiosity for lions that come and sniff around at night. "You can lie in bed for four hours scared silly, or you can go back to sleep," she says.
Whitman has had a few close encounters with lions. Most memorable was one she had tranquilized in order to put on a radio collar. She was leaning across the lion, screwing down the collar, when the lion suddenly woke up. "I was airborne," says Whitman. The lion immediately fell back asleep.
Whitman has had malaria more than once, and although sleeping sickness isn't endemic in her study area, the tsetse flies are "horrid." About the size of horseflies, they have a painful bite. "You can easily have 30 to 50 on you at once," she says.
The payoffs include not only an intellectually interesting project, but star-studded nights punctuated by the roars of lions, the whooping of hyenas and the calling of leopards. And last but not least, "It'll be hard to give up the sunsets on the savannah."
DAWN KITCHEN has studied howler monkeys, under the direction of Anne Pusey, in the rainforest of Belize. She recorded the howls and played them back to monkeys in the treetops to observe their reactions. That meant keeping track of the mobile monkeys while hauling 20-pound speakers, a 40-pound amp, poles to mount the speakers, a 20-pound battery, and other equipment totaling 150 to 200 pounds. Her digital recorder tended to get damaged by humidity, and in a rainforest with monkeys that urinate without warning, there's plenty of it.
Another feature of the rainforest: treacherous footing comes from more than the terrain.
"Once I almost stepped on some mating fer-de-lances," says Kitchen. But she noticed them just in time. "I got a good picture. It's the only picture of mating pit vipers, at least this kind, that I've ever seen."
Bathing was done in the local river, but in the rainy season the river is swollen and dirty. And though the swimming area was safe, downriver belonged to some pretty dangerous crocodiles.
Sleeping in a thatched hut or tent, Kitchen became used to the parade of tarantulas, scorpions, snakes and sundry night crawlers. One morning, however, she forgot to shake out her boot before putting it on. Inside was a scorpion, which was squashed by her foot without doing any damage. "Scorpions won't kill you unless you're allergic," she says. "Only the roaches bother me."
As for Belize, Kitchen calls it a beautiful country.
"The Creole language sounds like music," she says. "I have built some of my most treasured friendships there."
by Deane Morrison
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