Last night it rained
today it's cloudy and windy, so the iguanas aren't doing much yet. Yesterday went well. OPP took a long walk, and everyone else stayed in or near. Gooey spent the night with a crab in the retreat, and we have to check today how that went. We also saw a really large snake near RBO's place, but no missing iguanas yet...as for the people, Des is leaving tomorrow, and we are all worried that we are going to starve to death without her fantastic cooking. John has started rumors of making fish tacos though, so we might be OK. As for me, I went to bed much earlier last night, and am feeling much better today. I also did all my laundry and cleaned my room, so I can at least find things. I'll update you all if anything exciting happens today like male/female encounters or fighting.
- posted by cxjo @ 11:45 AM

 
We are looking at a loogi-thing
that is alive. It reminds me of when we found the free-living flat worm that looked like angel hair pasta. So it is some kind of animal maybe...chris is talking to it. We are going to name it Lougius carrii after chris.
- posted by cxjo @ 11:37 AM

 
Sorry for the short delerious email,
but on days when its cloudy and cold I have all this free time to do stuff like write poems...on hot days, lizards move. A lot. Today it's hotter than hell, and I mean that litterally, because there is a town called “hell” here, and where I am is hotter. I've burned through about a gallon of water already, and we're only at midday. Ran into some spikey bushes and put my hand in a cactus a few minutes ago. As for the reptiles, they're really enjoying the sun. Glad someone is, all I can think about is swimming. I can hear the ocean from here, but I've never been in it. Last night I was on the phone with Fred sitting cross legged on the ground, and I looked down and there was an alsophis snake sitting on my leg! It was about 1 meter long, and I hadn't even noticed it crawling up! Gotta go, there are ants in my pants--litterally.
- posted by cxjo @ 9:51 AM

 
Twas the night before Christmas
and all through the Salina, not a creature was stirring, not a single Cyclura.
The stockings were piled by the boots in a heap, in the hopes that some of us might get some sleep!
The trackers were collapsing one by one into beds, while visions of maiden plum danced in their heads.
And iguanas in cages and iguanas in parks, had all settled down, just before dark.
When out on the lawn, there arose such a clatter, I sprang from my bed to see what was the matter.
Away to the window I sleepily did go, for dozens of roosters had started to crow.
When first rays of light shone onto the floor, I knew it was time to head for the door.
When what to my half open eyes should appear, but a tall sleepy Fred holding coffee and gear.
With a long curvy drive going out to the park, the post-Ivan Cayman looked roofless and stark.
With a sharp jagged pathway and a long tedious walk, I knew in a moment it must be cliff rock.
Then gradually out of their retreats they came, and we quietly followed and listed by name.
Came Wymp and Yerp, and Burp and Grape,
Then Gypsie and Egypt and Yarrow and Wop, came Rambo and Wribbit and Gewpy and Gop. Out to the rock, to the top of the retreat, the signal receiver went beep beep beep beep.
Through trees that before the wild hurricane stood, we followed iguanas through cliff rock and woods.
So down the trail to find lizards I walked, to retreat 49 twas Oppie I stalked.
As I punched in the code and was turning around, down fell Oppie from a tree to the ground.
She was ridged with spines from head to tail, and patches of skin were turning quite pale.
A piercing with beads orange pale blue and yellow, this young female lizard was surprisingly mellow.
Her tail ringed with spikelets her toes long and slender, at this age it's too difficult to tell them by gender.
Her head was so torquoise it looked like the sea, from her look I could tell she was tempted to flee.
Her belly was plump, and her eyes so dark red, that they looked like squashed berries in the sides of her head.
She blended into the rock as a measure of stealth, and I laughed when I saw her in spite of myself.
A wink of her eye and a twist of her head, soon gave me to know I had nothing to dread.
She spoke not a word but went on with her eating, and I decided to type you this holiday greeting.
And here once again as the bugs start to bite,
Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night!
- posted by cxjo @ 9:49 AM

 
As you may know, we had a 6.7 earthquake last night!!!
We were sitting around the computer watching dodo's film when the house started shaking. Fred asked, “what's that??” I immediately said, “it's an earthquake!” As I lept from my chair into the doorway and advised Dodo and Fred to do the same. Fred said, “wow this is a big one it's probably a three or so!”. I responded, “Nope it's got to be at least a five or more.” At this point 6red and Dodo remembered that I was Californian. So as the rest of the island was trying to figure out what was going on, I was saying, “Get away from the windows and into a doorway!!”. The iguanas are unfazed. It is super windy today and everyone is staying close to home. Fred has taken the day off for the first time in ten days to go do film stuff with Dodo. I felt guilty when I had to wake him at 6:30 to ask where the truck keys were. The phone company here has invited me to have drinks with other blackberry users. I think I want to go and ask about Fred's land line service. They are trying to get everyone to go wireless by not installing phone lines that were downed in the hurricane. Oh about the earthquake...there was no damage reported, but that's because any building that wasn't in bedrock, already fell down in the hurricane. When there's nothing left standing to fall down, earthquakes don't do much! --Sarah
- posted by cxjo @ 7:48 AM

 
Report from the field
Today I am helping at the captive facility as Sam has errands to run. Chris and I have invented a new expression: “I'm going to pay Slugger a visit.” This comes from the fact that slugger sits in front of the bathroom all day. So it's kind of like saying “I'm going to see a man about a horse”. Or “I'm going to go drop the kids off at the pool”. Yesterday, Fred witnessed a snake/iguana encounter that was quite tense until they parted company. The iguanas that we released are just barely too big to be snake food, which is good because there are a lot of Cayman racers around. I stayed up too late last night entering data... This afternoon, Chris and I are going to spend the afternoon moving rocks to make retreats nicer for the large lizards. Chris says he now deserves a degree in rock moving.
- posted by cxjo @ 11:23 AM

 
Here's the quote of the day:
“When cliff rock starts to look comfortable, it's time to go home!” If you're a geologist, “cliff rock” is also known as karst.
Someone ate my scharffenburger chocolate bar. It was nibbled like a rodent, and I suspected rats except that the paper was neatly folded around it and it was in the fridge. Normally I would say that I don't need that kind of thing, but I'm burning like 8,000 calories a day here and I can eat whatever I want and still lose weight!! Now I get to sit and enter data for hours while my boss goes to a dinner party.
P.S. To everyone, I have a sort of blog about my research at www.blueiguana.ky. I think it may be called reports from the field, but I don't know. Anyway you should all check it out!!!
- posted by cxjo @ 1:22 AM

 
Hi everyone!! The travel blog is back!!
This time, I am in Grand Cayman doing research for the IRCF (Int. Reptile Conservation Foundation). Here's what I do pretty much every day...
I wake up between 5:35 and 5:50, eat oatmeal or cereal for breakfast, get my gear ready, and hop in the car with F- who I work with. We drive to the Salina reserve and we always pass the sun rising over the beach on our way there. We also pass by heaps and heaps of former houses, trees, and cars that have been destroyed by the hurricane. When we get to the reserve, we do a strenuous 1/2 hour hike into two sites where we have released iguanas. By strenuous, I mean that you couldn't even get a donkey down the trail. The trail is essentially sharp stalagmites called “karst” which is like a treacherous honeycomb rock formation. My ankles are miraculously still in tact! Boots however look like they have been chewed by a dog --both pair. After we get in, F- and I go to different sites and I don't have human contact again until the end of the day. At 745 sharp I start my first round of iguana tracking. We have released 13 baby iguanas into the wild for the first time, and each has their own area with a wooden nest box that has been iguana tested and approved. Without the boxes apparently they just run off and die. The first iguanas poke their heads out of their boxes at a little after 8, and then I walk a circut from box to box recording their movements once an hour. Once the females get themselves settled, we will release the males, and hopefully havoc will not break loose. When the last iguana is back in her retreat, or hole, or tree as the case may be, I get to hike out and go home. On the way home, we get to see the sunset, and the destruction. It really looks like the island has been through a blender. When we get back, we crash on the couch to take off our boots and hit the showers. Then we heat up a british caserole that S- has made for us in the freezer and somtimes D- makes a salad. If the casserole has meat then I eat rice and beans which I made and put in the freezer. D- is a filmaker and sometimes she comes with us to film the iguanas. After dinner, we get our gear ready for the next day, and spend a few hours entering the data into the computer before we forget all our little notes. There are also usually other things to do like laundry, dishes, phone calls, and stuff for the project. We try to finish all of this by 10, because we are always exhausted. I am currently sitting in the bushes waiting for my next round of tracking to start. I purchased this blackberry thingy, so even though I'm in the middle of nowhere, I have wireless phone and email. Please email me. I can't promise to write back right away given my busy schedule, but its nice to hear from home. If you don't have my email (hotmail) ask around, I don't want to put it on the blog and get spammed with viagra adds.
- posted by cxjo @ 10:23 AM

 
new contributor
Sarah is in the Caribbean now, helping rebuild after the previous fall's devestating series of hurricanes. However, she's not building infrastructure, repairing power lines, fixing roads, buildings, and the like... but she is saving civilization: lizard civilization! Unfortunately the internet access in some 3rd world countries prohibits access to this site, so she's unable to post updates. That's fine, I'll do it for her. I'll be doing that as necessary... when I receive email updates. But first I'd like to share with you a photo that I found absolutely fantastic:



Take care everyone, and happy friday!
- posted by cxjo @ 11:37 AM