Learning

I still have a lot to learn!

I've started to do telemetry (radio-tracking), which is more or less the same as what I did in Taiwan.  We go to areas where we know a collared coyote is known to roam and we scan the area with a directional antennae called a Yagi.  We decide the direction from which the signal is strongest and record the bearing.  Then we repeat this from several locations until we can make a triangle (triangulation) or at least an intersection (biangulation) between our bearings.

The hard part I find is observing the coyotes.  I seem to be bad at spotting them from the distance and using a scope to find them.  I have enough trouble doing this, but then I have to be writing down everything it does: RLU = raised leg urination; UP = unsuccessful predation; etc.  We haven't even done multiple coyotes yet!

I am a little behind the other two interns, so I have a lot of catching up to do.  They seem to have a whole lot more experience than me, in everything.  From their stories, they seem to have already led amazing lives: the guy was a salmon fisherman in Alaska and seems to have roamed all over Montana, and the girl has trapped and tracked coyotes already, as well as done field work in Australia.

There's lots of wildlife all around here: I've already seen two bears, many coyotes, lots of elk and pronghorn, and millions of bison.  I was worried about the grizzly bears here; apparently the bison are a bigger hazard.  Tourist driving is the biggest.

Finally, here are a couple pictures:

Using scopes to look at a bear.

The bear!  It's a big grizzly, far away.

I got here!

I'm here in Cooke City, Montana.  It's a 1.5 street town 4 miles out of Yellowstone.  We worked today, observing coyotes in intermittently dumping snow.  I have altitude sickness.  It's no fun to have altitude sickness.  I'll have some more to say later, perhaps.  For now, facebook: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2345610&id=2704720&l=061a64a973

Day 2

Today, I:

Drove down long, straight country roads.

Crossed the Mississippi.

Saw big tires

Right now, I'm in Iowa.  Iowa has a lot of farms and shallow rolling hills.  I go miles without seeing an exit, and the exits I do see are truck stops.  But I can see so far...  distant thunderstorm, lightning strike.

Tommorow: Rapid City, South Dakota

On the road!

I left today.  Final destination: Montana.  But before I left, I had to get lost in Chapel Hill first.  Yup, I did some exploring before I went on an 8-hour trip.

But once I got going, the going was nice.  I like to listen to the radio stations change (and my CD player is broken).  It gives me a sense of the distance I travel.  About 5 stations today, through four states: NC (2), VA(none, it was the corner), WV(1), and OH(2).

Now I'm in Oxford, OH, where Tai Rui has been gracious enough to take some time out of her busy schedule to help me out and give me a place to stay.  I just had the tiniest bagel sandwhich ever, and I'm pretty sure the girl who made it dug something out of her eye while she made it.  Which is gross, but I ate it anyways.  Who knows, maybe all your food handlers have been doing that.  I was hungry.

I have an 8 megapixel camera phone which makes taking pictures really easy, so hopefully I will have some more.

This is Pilot Mountain, NC.

Tommorow's destination: Des Moines, Iowa