BLOG - July 5, 2006

Today, Kortnee, Katie, Jeff, and Andrew returned to the Peccary project. Half the group unloaded pieces of a trap disassembled the day before to rebuild it after dragging all the pieces deep into the woods. The guide for the group spoke zero English making for a humorous time. The other half of the group entered field data collected from a camera trap. The group was also fortunate enough to see an oscelat.
Nick and Haley accompanied the herpetologist, Ellen Wang, on her study of reptiles. They went out and checked previously set traps. Any caught reptiles (frogs, lizards & snakes) were placed in bags for transportation back to the fazenda lab to study. Other things caught included tree frogs, beetles, red-tailed lizards, and scorpions. The group had a long day checking almost 50 traps.
Luke, Kelsey, Anna, and Liz went with Manoel to study giant and neotropical river otters. The group was split and Luke went down river to silently wait for otters to emerge from the banks of the river. That half of the group saw 11 otters. The other half of the group worked on transecting up the river. The land was divided into patches of 500 meters. One person assessed the height of the banks into 5 categories, one person recorded the position of any otter evidence found, and one person recorded the information. The group looked for tracks, scat, and actual sightings. This group was able to see 3 otters.
Kiegan went as a solo York student to continue water testing. The group did much of the same work the girls group had done the day before. At the first site pH levels, salinity, and oxygen levels were taken. The next site underwent these measurements, but a plant inventory was taken and some fishing was done. Specimens of plants which Don, our researcher did not recognize were taken to be cataloged and some fish were caught to be preserved.
Back at home base, the group has been enjoying two meals a day of rice, beans, and some sort of meat. There has been a lot of fruit and Guarana. There have been many snake, bat, and Macaw sightings. Out of the projects wildlife such as ocelots, capybaras, anteaters, howler monkeys, stingrays, and numerous birds have been seen. A lot of traditional dancing, exercise routines, card games, and pool volleyball have occurred. The Brazilian scenery is amazing. We have never seen sky so blue and animals so incredible. TEAM 9

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