Country Roads, Take me home

The time has almost come for us to leave Sakaerat for good, and I am still having a hard time coming to grips with that reality. I really don’t want to leave, but of course more adventures lie ahead in other places, and so I must continue to explore. I am excited to head off and travel around Southeast Asia for a while, but I am also quite bummed to be saying goodbye to this precious corner of the world and the people here. This place has been not only a marvelous home, but also a source of constant adventure and wonderful times. You never know what you might find while exploring these lush forests. Just peeking into the vaults of their expansive wealth of biodiversity has been richly rewarding. So many times when I've least expected it I have chanced upon something I couldn't of even imagined, such as watching a bat get stuck in a spider web (and then escaping) or a Slow Loris staring at me eye-to-eye. I can only dream about what else I might have discovered if we had a bit more time here.

Whatchu lookin at?

In the spirit of unexpected adventures and saying goodbye, I thought I’d tell a story of a day back in September which involved a series of unforeseen events and a fantastic farewell party. The day before, Taksin had invited us to lunch, mentioning something about a retirement party for one of the workers. None of us thought too much of it, after all we have been invited up to the station for meals many times before. Usually there is a healthy buffet of many different Thai foods, which we will happily devour and then head on our way. This time was different though. It was the first time we were invited up for lunch, instead of dinner. When the time came for us to go, Sheila and the girls weren’t feeling up to it. Sheila decided to keep sleeping, and Sara and Tesco had both just woken up… so they weren’t in the mood for lunch food yet. So Mike and I headed up to the station alone. As we approached the dining hall, I saw a large elaborate stage set up outside. That was the first clue that this was going to be a special event. 

All the Jungle's a stage...

We walked into the main cafeteria to see quaint round tables covered with elegant white table cloths. At each table there was a fancy spread of many different dishes, each prepared with an exquisite attention to detail. I was very impressed, and quite surprised. This was much more extravagant than I had expected. Mike and I sat down with the other members of the snake team and we began to dine like royalty. 

A feast from the east

Not only was there plenty of delicious food, but the beer was free-flowing and ubiquitous. Every time we turned around, an employee would deliver us a few more bottles to the table, despite the fact that we already had quite a few open bottles. At one point I believe we must have had 8 or 9 beer bottles on the table at once. Luckily Mary-Ruth and Chia-Yi joined us not soon after the meal began, so there were plenty of people there to help diminish the seemingly never-ending supply. 

By 1:30 pm or so, most of us were done eating… but the party wasn’t over yet. Beer continued to be delivered while high officials from the Thailand Ministry of Science and Technology (the Thai equivalent of our NSF) stood up to give speeches about how great Sakaerat was for Thailand. They are absolutely right about that, Sakaerat is definitely something that Thailand should be proud of. Every year this place is responsible for teaching thousands of Thai children the importance of nature, a lesson that loses some of its effect when taught in a polluted city such as Bangkok. And then of course there’s the huge amount of scientific research that is carried out here every year by scientists from all over the world. This place is definitely a diamond in the rough. A lot of this success is thanks to the leadership of Taksin and his tireless drive to keep this place up to par with international expectations. In the short time that we have been here, he has instituted many changes in order to improve the quality of life for us and others at the station. A few examples include having an entirely new bathroom built as an addition to our house, replacing old drinking water jugs with actual plumbing and metal water fountains, and installing extremely high speed internet which has made skyping home so much easier. Taksin is an amazing man, and it’s easy to see that he truly loves his job. In fact, he once turned down a promotion to one of the higher positions in the government so that he could continue to remain at Sakaerat instead of having to work a desk job. My kinda guy!

Before and Bath-ter

Anyhow, back to the party. By about 2 pm the formal speeches were winding down, but these guys had another trick up their sleeve… Karaoke! A giant projector screen that was being used earlier to showcase photos of Sakaerat had been transformed into a gigantic Karaoke machine, and the head honcho of the Thai Ministry of Science was leading the charge into la-la land. Everyone loved this spectacle, especially our table… since we had no idea this was coming. A few Thai songs were sung which most people in the audience seemed to recognize and enjoy, and a few more beers were consumed by our table. Around this time Sara showed up, wondering what the heck was taking us so long to eat lunch. Like a rowdy bunch of pirates we all cheered and shoved a mug of beer towards her while insisting that she join in the celebration. She didn't require much convincing, and soon she was clapping along blindly to the music with the rest of us. 

Sala joins the party

Then it suddenly became obvious why they had been giving us so much beer. One of the employees waltzed over to our table with the Karaoke microphone and insisted that we sing a song! I didn't see this coming at all, but turns out they actually had a few songs in English… so we could at least make complete fools of ourselves in our own language. They put on “Country Roads” by John Denver, and handed the microphone to Nico, one of the Field Technicians on the snake team. Nico is from France, and he knew that I was from Virginia. So he cleverly used that tid-bit of knowledge to pawn the pressure on to me, saying “Look, it says Virginia… you do it!” Granted, it’s actually West Virginia… but I figured I was stuck so I figured what the heck. Thanks to the constant supply of beer I didn't need too much convincing to look like a total buffoon. After a couple verses I was really getting into it and all of the Thai folks seemed to love it. One guy even joined in with me! It was a blast, and I’m glad I did it. Sara actually managed to capture some of it on video, and since I am many miles away from most of you… I don’t mind embarrassing myself by sharing this beauty with y’all.

For some unknown reason that song seems to be an international sensation. I have friends in Poland that love it, and one of my friends in Ghana recently posted on her blog that she heard a guy playing it in the street one day. Who would have thought that people all across the world are excited by the idea of heading home to the Shenandoah Valley? It is pretty cool to have your local region so widely recognized though. After all it is a pretty special place, and I hafta admit I definitely miss home. I am looking forward to returning in a month… but until then I am doing my best to make the most every moment over here.

...To the place, I belong (Photo taken at Shenandoah River State Park)

In that spirit, I was doing my darndest to enjoy this party to the fullest. Singing Karaoke in front of the station was really just the beginning. After a while of singing indoors, someone made the move towards relocating everyone outside so the celebration could continue in the sunlight. At this point everyone had pretty much given up any hopes of being productive that afternoon, and we were all carrying on and having a great time. This was a much needed, unexpected break from the rigors of data-entry and field work… and it was quite well received. Even Tesco and Sheila eventually came up to the station and joined in on the fun and general shenanigans.

Moving the party outdoors

The kitchen staff brought out hot, freshly-roasted cashews for us to munch on while we continued to drink and goof off while singing and watching others sing. Now that we had extra space for activities, dancing was added into the mix and we joined in a circle with some of the girl counselors while trying to learn some new moves. They put some chairs in the middle, but we never quite figured out what they were for. At first I thought we might be playing musical chairs, but no one ever sat down. The whole thing was a hoot, and even though we looked completely ridiculous… nobody seemed to care. It was an awesome way to break the language barrier and actually hang out with these people that we see every day but don’t normally have time to interact with except in passing.

Musical chairs, anyone? 

Since Sala and Tesco didn't get the chance to take part in any Karaoke while the party was still inside since they were a tad late, they requested a few songs while we were outside. When their time came, they hopped up and began belting out “Build Me Up, Buttercup” as if it was the reason they were born. This was hilarious to watch, and after a little bit one of the male administrative workers decided he wanted in on the action. So he grabbed a microphone and next thing you know he was front and center, singing along to a song he probably didn't even understand. I managed to snag this photo of the performance, which pretty much sums up the moment perfectly.

"I need YOUUUU!"

Good times! The party continued well into the afternoon, with some of the more levelheaded workers heading back to their tasks, while others continued to fool around and enjoy this break from responsibility. At one point all of the young girl counselors and one of the Japanese researchers got on stage and put on a synchronized dance show for those who were still in the audience. It was quite well done, and I was impressed with the Japanese dude’s ability to keep up.

And the dance goes on...

The Karaoke microphone was never turned off, as many of the employees waited patiently to have their moment in the spotlight. Even the hardworking kitchen ladies took a break from their duties to sing a song or two.

Everybody got their time to shine

Ask the daylight began to fade, the party continued on… with music in full-swing and beer glasses constantly being refilled. No one expected a simple lunch to turn into an all day fiesta, but no one was complaining. We were constantly laughing and taking silly photos as the day slowly passed us by. What a fantastic way to spend an afternoon!

Look at these Looney, err,... lovely ladies

As dusk approached, a few of our team left to attend to checking on the frogs in the shed… one of our daily tasks. Afterwards they returned to the station, where the kitchen staff had prepared a delicious soup for everyone who was still hanging around. So we ate a light dinner, and then returned to the party for awhile until eventually it was time for us to start getting ready for work. Since I was on dawn shift I had some time to sleep before I had to wake up and head into the pond. Before we dispersed, a few of us climbed the kitchen tower to stargaze for a bit… since this evening was particularly clear. This was a fantastic ending to a wonderful day, and I went to bed that night very happy. I don’t think we will have quite the same farewell party when we leave in a couple days, but I am sure that we’ll have lots of fun. Either way, I know all of us will look back on this day in September with fond memories. The next time you hear from me, I’ll be a travelin’ man! Until then, Peace Out!

King for a Day

Tuesday was definitely one of the most exciting and eventful days I have had since arriving in Thailand. I got to tag along with the King Cobra research team here at Sakaerat for a day, and I got a pretty good idea of what it’s like to walk a kilometer in their boots. I was able to take a break from working with our research team because we were still waiting on the rain (it’s here now!) to get started working full-time with the frogs. The night before this little excursion, the skies opened up and gave us the rain we've been waiting on for so long. Thankfully this didn't cancel my plans, as Sheila still allowed me to go as long as I was ready to go out to the ponds with her that evening. It was going to be a long day, but I was too excited about possibly catching a glimpse of my first wild King Cobra to let that bother me.

This was the goal

The day started bright and early at 6 am. We met in the dining hall and then headed out to check “plots” – randomly chosen 50 square meter chunks of Sakaerat that were being used by Colin Strine to survey the types of critters that can be found in the various different habitats here. I rode in the back of the truck with Colin while Eric, one of the other field assistants, drove us up the main road in Sakaerat towards the tropical evergreen forest. On the way, Colin explained to me a few of the characteristic plants that help determine the difference between the dipterocarp and evergreen forests.

Traveling through the dipterocarp on the main road through Sakaerat

It only took a few minutes to get to the plot, and when we arrived… Eric pulled out an iPad that was used by the team to record data. We noted the time that we entered the plots, and then headed towards the traps that Colin designed and installed to catch the various arthropods and herpetofauna that lived in this neck of the woods. The traps are essentially long pieces of thin mesh about 2 feet tall stretched in two different “Y” shapes on the ground, known as arrays, with the mouth of the Y’s facing away from each other within the 50 sq meter plot.

Amateur Sketch of the layout

The mesh fences are held up with bamboo stakes and firmly covered with dirt at the base to keep them in place and to prevent animals from going under them. When an animal such as a snake or a spider runs into this fence, it is then forced to travel along the mesh, and in the attempt to get around it, the animal will go straight into a wire trap made with 2 consecutive funnels that are easy to enter but nearly impossible to pass back through, similar to the design of a crab trap.

Colin checking the traps for critters

Because we got such a heavy rain the night before, most of the snakes were still sheltering and we didn't find any in the traps. We did find a bunch of tiny scorpions which must have hatched early that morning after the rain, along with an assortment of other arthropods and a few frogs.

Calluella guttulata - Blotched Spadefoot Frog

After checking the evergreen forest plot, we then drove down to the dipterocarp to check out a plot there. We waded through lots of wet grass on our way, and unfortunately we didn't see any snakes in these plots either. We did find something much scarier though… lots of evil centipedes. These wicked creatures are capable of killing vertebrates such as snakes and lizards with ease. In fact, unlucky vertebrates are their primary prey. One of these monsters in the traps is bad news because if a snake or a lizard gets caught inside alongside a centipede, that’s a cage match that will certainly end in their demise. 

Centipede of death

Because we encountered so many scorpions and centipedes that morning, checking the plots took considerably longer than usual given that we had to be sure to avoid getting stung or bitten. We finished up around 9 am and then headed back to the station for breakfast. When we got back, Colin’s wife greeted us and told us that the Cobra team was on TV as part of a special done by the Thai television show: The Navigator. There were two episodes filmed at Sakaerat actually, the first one had aired the day before and focused primarily on Sakaerat in general and the educational program run here. The one that aired on Tuesday was focused on the King Cobra team specifically, and they caught some awesome footage of the team in action. They even caught one of the cobras “hooding up” on film! 

While we were eating breakfast and watching Colin track down a King Cobra on TV… Jacob and Matt, two of the other field assistants, returned and told Colin that the King they had been tracking that morning had moved from its previous location. The team has been tracking 3 Kings for quite some time until recently when one of them was found dead and mostly eaten by the lower dam pond behind our house. They are unsure what killed this snake, but the suspected culprit at the moment is a hog badger. 

Wanted: King Killer

With only two cobras left to track, it is very important for Colin’s research to keep close tabs on where these snakes spend their time. After this news, Jacob smiled at me... “Looks like you’re gonna get to see a King Cobra today, man.” Totally wicked! I was excited. Colin urged us away from the computer screen that we were all huddled around while watching the Navigator episode so we could get back to work. Before we could head out to track the cobra though, we had a few other things to handle. One was the giant scorpion found in the dining hall and the other a monitor lizard in a box back at their house.

Imagine this in your Fruit Loops

The scorpion was unplanned, and an easy fix. The black ones with big claws are harmless, and rarely sting. These were the same kind we found in the traps earlier that morning. Colin simply picked him up and put him outside, away from the building. The monitor lizard was a random catch Colin had made a couple of days prior while driving to one of the plots. The plan with him (or her- very hard to tell with these lizards) was to simply take a small clipping from one of his claws and his tail, to analyze for stable isotopes, and then release him later that day.

Calmly awaiting his pedicure

Thankfully for the research team, Monitor Lizards use playing dead as a defense mechanism… so this guy hardly moved the entire time he was laying on the table. In addition to clipping his toenail and taking a tiny slice off the end of his tail, the team made a few measurements of his snout-vent length and overall condition. For the most part he seemed quite healthy, and Jacob kindly removed a few ticks from his underside to put him in tip-top shape.

Getting his ticks off without getting him ticked off

 Before we could take the monitor back to his home though, we had to go get the Cobra and bring it back to the house. This was the moment I’d been waiting for! We grabbed some snake hooks, tongs, heavy duty gloves, a few machetes, a couple snake bags, and most importantly the tracking device… and then headed for the truck.  

We're off to see the Wizard... err, King

The drive up was fairly short, just past the Upper Dam Pond where we do some of our frog surveys. We walked along an established trail for a while, until the transmitter’s signal led us off the beaten path. We veered off and followed Jacob and Matt, who had tracked the cobra to his current location earlier that morning. Welding machetes, the gang hacked their way through the undergrowth towards the King. Along the way we encountered a Northern Forest Crested Lizard, and stopped to snag a few quick photos.

Calotes emma alticristatus

 We quickly resumed tromping through the forest, following Matt as he intently listened to the pings of the Cobra’s transmitter within the tracking device. We were eventually led to a pile of fallen logs, and the tracking device indicated the King had made his throne somewhere underneath them. We hacked away at the surrounding vegetation, taking pictures beforehand to document the habitat type. It was important to clear the working space, in case something went wrong and the King got loose… it would be easier to chase him down and handle him within a cleared out area.

In case you were wondering, the whole reason we were so intent on capturing this cobra and taking him back with us wasn't just for fun. The two snakes that Colin is tracking both have transmitters implanted just beneath their skin that run on batteries that last many months. So every so often, they need to be captured and have their transmitters replaced. That’s why we were capturing the King today, his transmitter would only last another week or so, and they couldn't risk having it die and losing track of him. The brush pile was quickly but cautiously cleared away and slowly but surely we got closer to our target. Eventually, Cowan got a visual on the snake, and he quickly used the tongs to hold him in place.

Tracking the King to his log castle

 By pure luck, Cowan clamped the snake just below his head… allowing for an easy transition of moving in with a gloved hand to grasp his neck and therefore keeping his dangerous fangs from causing any damage. Once the snake was firmly and safely secured, I moved in closer to get my first glimpse of a wild King Cobra.

The King of the Jungle

This cobra was on the smaller side, but he still had quite a bit of body hidden beneath the logs that we had to coax out slowly. Steadily we removed him from his den, and then quickly put him in the snake bag… making sure not to catch his tail in the knot used to keep the bag closed.

Tag 'em and bag 'em

 We doubled bagged our feisty friend, and then started heading back out of the forest. So much excitement and it wasn't even noon yet! This day was definitely off to a great start. Cowan volunteered to carry the snake back, and before no time we were on the road heading back to the station.

Precious Cargo

When we got back to the station, the King was safely stored away to await his surgery. We were in for another treat when we arrived. Jimmy, another member of the team, had been out checking plots in a different area and found an adult red-necked keelback snake, a real beaut. These are one of the snakes we encounter around the ponds. This snake is one of the only snakes that is venomous AND poisonous. Its bite is venomous, and if you rub the back of its red neck, the spiny scales will deliver a painful poison. Just like back home, you can count on the rednecks here to have an arsenal of weapons.  

You know you're a redneck when...

At this point it was time to head out to check some of the farther plots, rebuild some plots, and release the monitor lizard. Since we were going quite a distance from the station, we wouldn't be heading back for lunch so we brought bagged lunches that the kitchen staff prepared for us. The road out to the plots was the same road we took to get to the King Cobra, except this time we wouldn't be stopping so soon. The road there was not exactly your average drive. In fact, it was some of the roughest riding I've ever experienced… which made for an awesome time. In addition to the tailbone shattering bumps that you had to brace for, we were constantly hitting the deck to avoid being wacked by low-hanging limbs and thorn bushes.

Duck!

 The road continued on like this for at least a half an hour, until finally we surfaced onto a well-established dirt road. What was this?! We had emerged onto a Eucalyptus plantation. I was pleased to see this well-used road at first, but I later learned that these plantations were actually part of a government program that took land away from peasants and replanted them with the exotic trees under the guise of forest restoration and expansion of protected areas. In reality, it was a scheme to provide fast-growing wood products to logging companies. Thankfully, logging in Thailand was outlawed in 1989 and these plantations were vehemently protested by a forest monk named Phra Prajak who gained national attention and helped expose this government ruse.

The road through the Eucalyptus plantation

Even though there is no longer logging in Thailand, the damage caused by these plantations is still evident. The habitat is entirely different from what it would look like if it was left untouched. Most of the understory has been cleared away, leaving the forest very open and exposed. Once we broke on through to the other side… we stopped to have lunch at a small overlook along the plantation road. Colin pointed out that you could see quite clearly the difference between the Eucalyptus forest and the evergreen forest in the background.

View from our lunch spot

 Our lunch was not just your average PB & J… we got plastic bags of rice, steamed vegetables, two hard boiled eggs, and a whole fish along with a juice box to wash it down. I offered up my fish to Colin and went to town on the delicious veggies and rice.

Packed lunch... Thai style

After lunch, I headed off with Cowan and Colin to check a few more plots in the Eucalyptus plantation and release the monitor lizard, while Jacob, Eric and Matt got a head start rebuilding the fences in plot 8. We dropped off the monitor lizard first, nearby an old abandoned logging base and as soon as he saw the ground, there was no playing dead for him… he was off like a bat out of hell. This meant I wasn't able to snag any photos of him, but I did take a quick picture of the desolate logging station.

This deserted logging house is being reclaimed by the forest

A few more minutes down the road, and we arrived at the plots we had to check. Unfortunately we didn't find any snakes in these traps either, mostly just bugs of various kinds, one skink and a couple frogs.

A Heymonsi Butleri found in the trap

Checking the plots in the afternoon went much quicker than it did earlier that morning since we didn't have to deal with quite as many centipedes of death or baby scorpions. When we were done with the plots, we loaded back up in the truck and headed towards plot 8 to get our hiking and manual labor in for the day. 

Cowan driving our (t)rusty steed

When we got back to the trail head for plot 8, we had quite a hike ahead of us. We grabbed some bamboo stakes and started down the path. The majority of the trail was down hill, which meant coming back up was going to be lots of fun. It took us about 10 minutes to get there, and along the way we weaseled our way along steep ledges, through rock passes, down steep inclines and clamored over boulders… which made the trip there quite entertaining.

Kindly holding the rock for the man behind him

 Eventually we arrived at the site of the plot, and got to work. The other guys had already dug out two lines of one “Y” and were starting on the second array when we arrived. The idea was to dig along the lines about 6 inches deep or so, so that the mesh could be re-buried before the next sampling session started.

The world needs ditch diggers too

At first I wondered why they hadn’t finished digging the rest of the first Y before moving on… but it quickly became very obvious. There was a huge wasp nest right next to the last line… great. Cowan suggested to Colin that we might have to skip it… but Colin wouldn’t let anything stand in the way of his data. So we forged on. Having already gotten stung once earlier this field season… I knew how important it was not to anger the little devils.

Eyeing the black blob of wasps cautiously

We worked away slowly, always keeping one eye on the nest. Whenever we encountered a root, it was particularly stressful because we didn't want to disturb the nest with the vibrations while we hacked away. Everything seemed to be going just fine, until suddenly I heard Colin yell “RUN!” I looked up and saw the entire swarm leaving the tree and heading my way. I dropped the shovel and ran headlong into the forest, bounding over logs and ducking under vines like nobody’s business. Finally I stopped and looked behind me; thankfully no wasps were following me. I breathed a sigh of relief, and hollered out to the others to let them know I was fine. We slowly returned to the line and resumed work, being even more cautious this time. We’re still not exactly sure what set them off. We eventually finished digging the line and set in the mesh too, but we didn't finish until about 6:30… which was when the sun was setting.

Got the mesh in place just before sunset

So at last we shouldered our tools and started the long hike out of the jungle. When we got to the truck, there was still a bit of light left… but it didn't last long. Most of the ride back we were in the dark. This didn’t really matter to me since I was staring at the bottom of the truck bed for most of the ride anyhow. We got back to the station around a quarter past 7, woofed down some delicious food (coconut curry tofu and fresh steamed watercress) and then it was time for me to switch gears and get ready to go out that evening to look for frogs in the pond. The day wasn't over yet! 

The King Cobra team… a little dazed and confused after a long day in the field

I headed back to our field house and spent an hour catching up on some data entry and then got ready to go out with Sheila and Sara at 9 pm. On our way up to the upper dam pond, we stopped at the shed (formally known as Sheila’s Jungle Laboratory) and picked up a couple frogs that we housed for a few days to study closer and brought them with us so we could return them that evening. On the road to the pond, we encountered a green pit viper and hopped out to snag a quick photo before continuing on our way.

Green pit viper (Trimeresurus albolabris) found on the road

Unfortunately when we stopped we realized he was hurt… so we took a stick and moved him to the side of the road, sent some good vibes his way, and continued on towards the pond. When we got down to the pond we found a hansanae within seconds of entering the water. The heavy rain last night was exactly what they had been waiting for. We also saw TONS of amplexing microhyla heymonsi pairs.

Hey mon... sigh

We didn't see any females at the upper dam pond, so we left the male that we found and continued on to another pool, where we were dropping off one of the frogs from the shed. We believed the frog to be a Rhacophorus bipunctatus – the flank spotted Gliding Tree frog but since it was only a juvenile it was hard to tell. When we got to the small pool we were in for a real treat… Sheila spotted a Rhacophorus kio! These are also gliding tree frogs, but a bit bigger and very beautiful. They could easily be the poster child for the tree frogs of Asia. Unfortunately because they are so stunning, many have been collected for the pet trade or taxonomic purposes… so they've become quite rare.

You may now kiss the frog

But we didn't just see one, we saw bunches! The rest were mostly high above in the trees, looking down on us with wide eyes and yellow bellies. There were lots of other frogs here as well, but these guys definitely stole the show. 

A Rhacophorus kio in the trees

We wandered around for a bit longer, took a few more glamour shots of this awesome frog, then we let her get back to sleep and continued on to the lower dam pond. We were almost done for the day.

Sleeping Beauty

The lower dam pond just behind our house was the last stop for the evening, but it was no less exciting. As we waded through the pond listening to myriad of different frog calls, we scanned the grass vigilantly looking for hansanae egg clutches and females. The volume of the frogs had certainly increased after the heavy rain that previous evening. Then, about half-way through the pond survey we spotted… a hansane egg clutch, with an attending female!! This was our first of the season, and it was quite thrilling.

A proud mom, guarding her eggs

Sheila also found a gravid (full of eggs) female and a male… so we snagged both of them for experimental treatments in the shed, and gently put them in plastic bags. We marked the location of our first clutch of the season with a piece of field tape so that we could easily locate it in subsequent surveys.

Sheila admiring our first gravid female of the season

This was the icing on the cake to an awesome day! Christmas in July had come early this year. The rains were here, I got to see a King Cobra in the wild, and we had just found our first egg clutch of the season. It doesn't get much better than that. To sweeten the pot just a bit more, we saw a long tailed lizard on our way out of the pond. The picture doesn't do him much justice, but their tails are typically six times the length of their bodies!

Long-tailed Lizard – Takydromus sexlineatus

Before we could call this day quits, we had to head up to the shed to introduce the gravid female and her male counterpart to their new home for the next few days. Sheila prides herself on being an excellent frog matchmaker, so we expected this to go well. They seemed to settle in quite nicely, and we bid them good night after setting them up with some nice plants and a comfy rock.

This is where the magic happens

At last it was time to go to bed. It was about 1 am, and man was I tired. I snagged a quick shower before lying down, and that was all she wrote. It felt great to have accomplished so much in less than 24 hours. Almost like actually getting to be King for a day… although I’d take field work over sitting in a palace any day of the week. Peace Out!