Time To Say Goodbye

And Last Minute Random Thoughts. . .

Our time in Nicaragua is fast drawing to a close. Many memories were made here, both in the field while mist netting and around the villa and town.

El Mercado. One of my favorite places to visit with the smell of
cooking chorizo and the colorful fruits and vegetables.

The results of our mist netting surveys are still being compiled, but over the 2 months of the project 1,476 individual bats representing 45 species were captured. Our captures have resulted in expansions of the known ranges of several bat species and documented a species new to Nicaragua.

Range map after our capture of a Pale-Faced Bat.

Pale-Faced Bat (Phylloderma stenops).
This is the first individual of this species captured in Nicaragua!

The natural resources of Nicaragua are stunningly beautiful but extremely threatened. Conservation of these resources hinges on understanding the culture and economic hardships that a majority of Nicaraguans face on a daily basis. A “thou shall not destroy your resources approach” will fail here.

One of Nicaragua's many volcanoes, unfortunately I do not remember which one this is.

Communication was an exciting challenge as the U.S. bat biologists spoke little Spanish and our Nicaraguan crew spoke little English. Our conversations were a blend of the few words we knew of Spanish/English (depending on your native language), Spanglish, biological names, and Charades. Carol and Martin, in particular, were extremely good at Charades. Had we actually played the game, they would have served as our captains.

The game "Angry Birds" was a big hit with the kids.
Victor learned it within a few minutes and attained the advanced levels within one day.

I love the beginning of a journey. One never knows quite what to expect or how to completely prepare for it. I’ve found that it is best to let go at a certain point and let the experience take you wherever it may.

So many destinations, so little time.

The things I will miss most are not necessarily specific events, but the small moments that collectively created a backdrop for our time here. For instance, how the buildings naturally open to the sunshine and allow for a cross breeze while protecting you from the rain. I will miss the roar of the howler monkeys and the shrieks of the parrots. I will miss the colors that are so vividly displayed on every available surface. I will miss the smiles that come so quickly to the faces of Nicaraguans.

We drew many smiles from people as we transported our pinata home from the market.
 The pinata was stuffed with candy and sacrificed at our going away party.

Unfortunately it is time to say goodbye to Nicaragua, but I am comforted to know that the end of this journey means the beginning of another. And it’s possible that that new journey might just lead me back here.

Minutes after sunset on our last night in San Juan del Sur.
We toasted the sun and each other for a job well done.

A New Species for Nicaragua

Nicaragua now has 101 species of bats (or 100 if you accept the recent combination of 2 species into 1 based on a genetic study published by Simmons in 2005)!

Pale-Faced Bat (Phylloderma stenops). This is the first individual of this species captured in Nicaragua!
The white wing tips are characteristic of this species, there was no question about the identification.

 We had a record-breaking night mist netting last night. We captured 4 new species for the project. Three of these species were known to occur in Nicaragua, but had not been captured yet on this project. The fourth species, the Pale-faced Bat (Phylloderma stenops) is known to occur in Honduras to the north and Costa Rica to the south but had never been captured in Nicaragua. The current range map for this species had a question mark for the country.

The range map before the capture.

Our group is extremely proud and excited to say we have removed that question mark.

The range map after the capture.

The night started off slow with the only highlight being that we accidentally placed our mist nets below a group of trees where 3 howler monkeys were roosting. We had a great view of them and I managed to take a few photographs that showed they were howlers (as opposed to my previous attempts where they were dark blobs in a tree).

Mantled Howler (Alouatta palliata)

The show-stopping moment occurred around 8:50pm when our project leader, Carol, came back from checking the mist nets with a very large bat in her hands. As she keyed out the bat and relayed the species determination to Arnulfo (the leading Nicaraguan bat biologist who was working with us this past week) he shook his head no. As Carol extended the wing to point out a white patch at the tip that is the identifying characteristic for this species he jumped out of his chair and ran over to her. Carol was excited because she knew this was a new species for the project, but we didn’t realize this was a new record for the country until Arnulfo frantically showed us the range map that showed the question mark over Nicaragua!

Arnulfo Medina, Nicaragua's bat biologist, and Carol, our project leader
just after we determined the species.

Arnulfo has been netting in Nicaragua for over 10 years, looking for this species in the types of habitat he thought it most likely to occur. He had tears welling up in his eyes and his arms were covered in goose bumps.

Our shouts of excitement had the unfortunate side effect of waking up the howler monkeys roosting above us. They showed us their displeasure by shaking the branches and attempting to pee on us (fortunately the offending monkey had bad aim).  

After documenting the capture with extensive photographs and video we sent the bat on her way wishing her a good life.

New species are extensively photographed. We refer to this as the "paparazzi moment".

Wishing her well and sending her on her way.

Lo que sea

What will be will be

Some locations for me are best described through music. The rhythm and beat of the music describes the energy and pace of a locale that transcends the spoken word. I hear steel drums in my head when I think of a Caribbean island, mariachi music for Mexico, and flamenco for Spain. Nicaragua had a strong voice that I heard clearly within a few days of my arrival. The sound has the laid back rhythm of a Caribbean island minus the steel drums with an added dash of the upbeat mariachi band of Mexico.

Sunset over the Pacific Ocean as seen from a beach side bar in San Juan del Sur.

El Mercado

El Mercado

The pace of Nicaragua is much more laid back than the US. Someone will not necessarily meet you at a pre-agreed upon time and the hardware store doesn’t always open at 1pm. The phrase “island time” came to our minds when trying to describe the attitude towards time, however this is a poor description for a country that is most certainly not an island. Jose, one of our Nicaraguan biologists, speaks excellent English and tends to function as our interpreter. When he was asked how we could translate “island time” to fit the Nicaraguan attitude he gave us the phrase “lo que sea” (pronounced lo-co-say-a). The literal translation is “that which may be” and is used in place of “whatever” or “whatever happens will happen”.

Nicaraguans are crack aces at taking the good with the bad. Hardship is a constant presence that is challenged by a people who are quick to smile and have an iron clad sense of community that we, as Americans, have lost. Your fellow town people are more than your neighbors; they are your family and share your laughter and your sorrows. Christian, one of our local guides, lost his cousin three days ago. The passing was not unexpected and occurred over a few days. As word spread of his decline people began arriving en masse via truck, taxi, motorcycle, bicycle, and foot. A vigil was maintained around the clock with singing, hand clapping, and prayers. We would return from the field, passing the house at 2am, to see hundreds of people crowding the yard of the house, spilling over onto the street. While the vigil was incredibly sad to witness it also served as a beautiful celebration of his life that moved us to tears.

The sense of community is further cemented by sports with the reigning favorite being soccer with baseball a close second. All of the villages have at least one flat, grassy area that serves as the playing field. Here in Escamaquita, soccer and baseball games are played on the weekends (assuming the chickens can be herded off the field long enough to hold a game) and the entire community gathers to watch. We have tried to catch a game but have not been able to do so because of our field schedule and the recent funeral mentioned above.

The local grassy area where chickens gather and the locals play soccer and football.

I wish that Americans could reconnect in this fashion. We have become so disconnected from each other even though we are increasingly connected via cell phones, e-mail, and social networking sites on the internet. I think we could all use a community soccer field with grazing chickens. . .or a front porch with a rocking chair.

Front porch of the villa. A lot of my blog posts are from this rocking chair.

You must be smarter than the bats

AKA – How we catch bats (or attempt to)

The goal of the Nicaraguan research project is to compare bat species diversity and activity between varying levels of fragmented forest (ex: highly fragmented such as near agricultural fields or homes, slightly fragmented such as a small tract of forest on the outskirts of town, and un-fragmented such as a contiguous tract of forest within a nature preserve).  Multiple sites have been selected within each fragmentation level for acoustic and mist-netting surveys.

The acoustic surveys are accomplished by placing Anabat microphones at the site. Anabats are able to record the echolocation calls of the bats and record them to compact flash (CF) cards. The CF cards are downloaded daily to computers and the echolocation calls are analyzed. Some bat species have unique echolocation calls while other species have such similar calls that it is difficult or impossible to make a species determination. Jose and Marlin are college students (undergraduate level) that have been hired to move the Anabats between survey points on a daily basis. They will continue the Anabat monitoring through this spring, even after our mist-netting surveys have been completed.

Marlon and Jose, the two undergraduate Nicaraguan employees running the Anabat surveys.

Mist netting involves placing nets in flyways such as streams and roads. A mist net is similar to a volleyball net but is taller (about 2.6 meters) and has much smaller holes. Mist nets range in length between 2.6m and 18m. The length of net we use is determined by the habitat in which we’re placing the nets.

The mist nets are strung between 2 poles and vary in height between “single high” nets and “triple-high” nets. Single highs are simply 1 net strung between 2 poles and triple highs are 3 nets stacked on top of each other strung between 2 poles that have a pulley-like system allowing the nets to be raised and lowered to remove captured bats.

Single-high mist net being deployed by one of our awesome US bat biologists.

Triple-high mist net. The white pvc rings have carabiners on them that the nets clip on to.
The rings are on a pulley system so the nets can be raised and lowered to remove bats.

The mist nets are placed in flyways (areas where bats fly - comparable to a human “highway”) where overhanging vegetation creates a small space through which the bats fly (called a funnel). Many bats are able to avoid the nets by pulling u-turns or going over the nets, however bats that aren’t paying close attention or can’t correct their flight path in time are captured in the nets.

The captured bats are removed from the mist nets and identified to species. We also determine the sex, reproductive status (if the females pregnant, lactating, or post-lactating, and if the males are non-reproductive or actively reproductive), and basic measurements such as weight, forearm (from elbow to wrist), thumb, ear, and foot are taken. If the bat is unusual or a new species for us we’ll usually take photographs of the bat (and us with the bat) and marvel over it before releasing it.

Removing a bat from the mist net.

Measuring a bats forearm (from their elbow to wrist). Several species that are
look identical are split into different species based on this measurement.

All of the mist netting surveys are conducted by bat biologists from the US that have volunteered for the project. These surveys began around the beginning of December and will continue through the end of January.

The acoustic and mist netting techniques don’t vary much between countries. Once the sun goes down and netting begins it is easy to forget we are in a foreign country thousands of miles away from whichever place each of us calls home. The night sounds that serve as our backdrop vary between the familiar such as the hooting of owls and the chirping of the frogs and insects and the unfamiliar such as the roar of the howler monkeys. We haven’t had any close encounters with the howlers (which is good since they’re known to fling objects ranging from tree branches to their own poo at unsuspecting people) but I enjoy their noises and tend to smile when I hear their husky voices.

There are security precautions we take in the field for the sake of our equipment and our own safety. The field trucks are always locked with all items removed from the truck beds. In high-risk areas a guard is left to watch over them. We also have a local field guide with us each night. The guide ensures we are on the correct property, interacts with landowners and local people, and watches over the group alert for any possible problems. We are surveying field sites farther away from our villa (about an hour and a half drive), close to the Costa Rican border. Drug runners are common, so Don Miguel is our guide for that locale. Don Miguel is known as “el jefe” in the area and is very respected by the locals.

“Don” and “Dona” are titles used here to denote men and women who are very well respected; they are often heads of their households and have a high social ranking within a community.

Time is running short as we are approaching the end of January. I am trying to not let thoughts of home intrude on my time and experience here but I know this will be harder as it gets closer to the time I need to leave. In the meantime, we are busy netting with an occasional night off. We are hoping for an arribada tonight or the following night.

Bats, bats everywhere

Staying busy is not a problem here. Between our field schedule and running errands in town and at the market, there is little down time in which I am able to write. Here is a post in pictures of the latest bats and scenery.

One of the many turtle beaches we have visited. Costa Rica can be seen in the background.
An arribada (when sea turtles arrive en masse to lay eggs) of 3,000 sea turtles might be happening
this next week. Sea turtle tours are a major tourist attraction and generate a lot of revenue. There is
also a lot of egg poaching with the poachers eating the eggs themselves (free source of protein) and selling
them for $1 per dozen. Daily salaries range from $2 to $5 so this can be a major source of income.
Wildlife conservation here depends on understanding the society, culture and economic hardships.

Our "laundry line". As bats are removed from the nets, we hang them on the line until we can process them (this involves taking specific measurements, identifying the sex and reproductive status as well as the species).

Intermediate Fruit-eating Bat (Artibeus intermedius). One of the larger bats we catch frequently. 

Thomas' Fruit-eating bat (Artibeus watsoni). Cute little buggers that are fairly easy to
remove from the nets as long as you watch their mouths - they love to bite!

Wrinkle-faced bat (Centurio senex). Out of 1,000 bats captured on this project, only 2 have
been this species.  They are so ugly they're cute. These bats have a wrinkled face with no fur.
They have a skin flap under their chin that is raised over their face (the flap has 2 slits for the eyes)
during courtship. . .this, of course, has created many jokes about paper bags over heads.
We were very, very excited to catch this guy!