Respect the Ha'Ting

Greetings!

Realized an email is LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOONG overdue!  I'm sorry I have not been better about writing-I know it has been a couple of months and I am SUCH a slacker :(  I guess I could blame it on all sorts of things but the reality is things have just been swamped here as I get integrated.  Although hopefully you will note from my pictures that I have managed to get a "bit" of time off to do relaxing things :)

Things on the island are GREAT.  I am so enjoying this place, the culture and the experience.  So far I think I have jumped through the majority of the hoops and come out on the other side with lots of friends and people to help me with both the biology work and the cultural implications/bridging the cultural gaps.  It is so nice to have a complete stranger (yes there are those on the island as I don't KNOW all 3,000 people..............YET!) come up to me in the store and say something along the lines of, "Hey aren't you the new island biologist?  I would really love to set a time and sit down with you to talk about some of the things I know or have seen"  From a systemic perspective this is HUGE.  I have kids coming up and talking about what they are learning in school and how they would like to do some interning with our programs (yet to be developed!) to get "out in nature". Etc etc.  The kicker is going to be if I can get all this amazing work translated in such a way that the higher-ups can see the value (it is hard to explain and quantify from a funding perspective) and keep the communication lines going.  Course that is simply the nature of the work and the challenge of blending biology and systemic thinking.  Interestingly enough I had my first young person come up to "Ahmen" (the sign of respect they give to someone else by placing their forehead on your right hand and asking for a blessing)...........THIS time I knew what to do :)  It was actually quite humbling and honoring to be accepted on that level.

As you can see from the pictures I spend quite a bit of time in rugged beauty with my co-workers Robert (a local technician who has been INVALUABLE in showing me the ropes and getting me in and OUT of the jungle safely!) and Molly who has been instrumental in helping to bridge the communication gaps between the cultural "system" and the conservation "system-she is a trained sociologist and RAWKS at her job.  The terrain is rugged and craggy, most of our work is done on cliffs.........seems that is were all the wildlife likes to hang out! LOL  Not to worry though we are all VERY safe and trained to say away from the edge :)  The view of seeing the ocean crashing on the rocks from hundreds of meters up always takes my breath away.  Unfortunately I have yet to figure out a way to get a good picture that can really convey the majesty of the scene.  I'll keep trying.  In addition to counting bats to ensure the colonies are maintaining, we also do sea and shore bird surveys (thus the Brown and Red Footed Booby pictures).  This trip we actually saw a Abbott's Booby which is INCREDIBLY rare as they are an endangered bird only known to breed on Christmas Island.  We turned around and there she was, about 5 feet from us saying "What's up?".  Sadly she flew away before we could get a picture.  But we all verified that it was definitely that species and have recorded it, this is actually the third time she has been seen in the last few years.  Course we are making the assumption it is the same bird and not another one.  Either way, pretty neat from a biological perspective.  I know I DO have my geeky moments :)

In addition to all the work I have been doing I have managed to get out for a hike up Telong.  I went with Molly, G, Donald and Flea (Molly's booney dog).  It was loads fun and a unique experience.  I think the bamboo forest was my favorite part.  I could have stayed there for HOURS!  One thing to note about doing work or hiking in the jungle are the Jungle Warriors; the locals call them Ha'Ting (I think the species is Odontomachus simullimus).  These lovely aggressive black ants and known for their painful bites and did I mention AGGRESSIVE???  Sooooooooooo the rest of the story............at the end of the hike I am trying to set my camera up on the timer for a group shot and made the mistake of sitting down to relax and try and stabilize the camera better............I'm sure you can fill in the gaps.  Yup, right on a nest that I had been stepping on for about 2 minutes.  Suffice it to say the "little darlings" were NOT happy NOR shy about expressing there displeasure.  Suddenly, I have ants in my pants making me do the ant dance!  So I do what ANY sane person would;stomp around to dislodge them (please note the large pincers in the picture!) and yelling "AAAAARRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGG!" over and over again.  I think I was doing my best not to cuss as the Chamorro do NOT use profanity and I did not want to offend our two friends who went with us.  Friends, whom I must point out were LAUGHING at me without reservation.  The bad part of the Ha'Ting bite is it continues to burn for several minutes.  So, I could not tell if they were still in my shorts and continuing to bite me on my buttock (which had gone relatively numb by that time but not enough that I could not still FEEL it sadly!) so I stripped off my shorts and turned them inside out while frantically smacking my own derriere   Significantly MORE laughter AND some rolling on the ground at that point (brave people if you ask me...........I mean we all KNEW at this point there were VICIOUS Ha'Ting in the area).  I'm still yelling AAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGG and squinting one eye (so says Molly); and before you ask I have NO idea why I channel an angry pirate when in pain.  This is definitely a new phenomenon as far as I know.  In the end, all was well.  Nothing was injured except for my pride.......AND I now have GREAT respect for the Ha'Ting!

Okay, since today is a relatively nice day and I have sufficiently embarrassed myself (and most likely left you with a very distrubing mental image!) I will sign off and maybe try to go for a swim :)  

I hope all is well and you enjoy the pictures :)