Last Field Trip

Hello everyone! I had my last field trip this past weekend, for Conservation Biology. We went to Palo Verde, which is a National Park in Guanacaste. It contains a large wetland area for migratory birds, so it is an important habitat. We stayed at the biological field station and did a couple of hikes through the park. Saturday night we accompanied a biologist during her data collection period. She was conducting a study on frog species in the area. She had set up a length of mesh fencing along the forest floor with a series of buckets embedded in the ground. Anytime a frog (or other reptile) comes to the fence, it gets funneled into one of the buckets. The scientists can then take measurements and collect data on the species that they find. We got to see a lot of frogs, a turtle, and a couple of snakes. One of them was a coral snake, and it was beautiful, but venomous. The scientists actually take venom samples from these snakes when they catch them to produce antivenom. It is an important job, but they have to be extremely careful. It was interesting to see research being conducted in the field, and I'm glad we got to go out with her that night.

Palo Verde was beautiful, but it was really hot and dry, and there were millions of mosquitoes. It was pretty miserable in those respects. One can always tell how bad the mosquitoes are by the sleeping accommodations. Each bed in the field station at Palo Verde had a heavy-duty mosquito net, and it was a relief to take refuge under it when we went to bed. I'm still pretty itchy though. Oh well. Part of the experience I guess.