Monday, 4/14/08 scat day

Yesterday ended up being a very long day. We did not get 'home' until almost midnight. What a long drive.
Nova Scotia is a very scenic place. The countryside has rolling hills with lots of rocks (granite and blue shale--you'll be learning about those!). Moss and lichen cover the ground and any other available surface. The trees here are of the pine family mostly so they are everywhere and it smells really good. It looks nothing like Houston, Galveston or any area that I can think of.

There are a total of seven of us. Two research scientists, four teachers, and one person who paid to come and help out.
The five of us (four teachers and the assistant) are living in an 80 year old, two-story house. We're staying in a small town (called a hamlet) named Cherry Hill. It is next to the Atlantic Ocean and is very windy. Everyone is really nice and we all get along well.

The scientists live down the road but come here to have meals with us (breakfast and dinner). We have lunch together but we are out in the field.

Today we had a very interesting introduction to the world of a research scientist.
We went to Broad Cove and walked approximately 15 kilometers (about 9 miles) to Green Bay. While out, we looked for signs of mammals. It was very interesting to be at this beach because there was lots of granite, shale, and slate. It was beautiful; the kind you find in your kitchen!

There are several ways to tell that animals have been there. One of the easiest ways is when you actually see the animal first hand. Another way to tell they've been there is to look for scat, also known as poop.
Before we went to the cove (like a beach but with rocks and sand), we had a quick introduction course on how to recognize scat. There are lots of ways to tell the difference; I chose NOT to break it apart or smell it. I just looked at it to see what it was composed of (what was in it).

By identifying the scat, you can tell what animals are there. Why do you think it is important to identify which animals are in an area? Why would it matter? Keep in mind that some animals eat plants and some eat animals.

Today we only saw a few mammals. We saw an osprey (large bird), a muskrat and a young porcupine. I will post the pictures in a slideshow so you can see them. It is hard to see the porcupine because he was sort-of rolled into a ball at the top of a tree.
We saw the scat of more animals: coyotes, fox, bear, porcupine, bobcat, snow shoe hare, and white tail deer.

After today, I'm going to try to make videos for you so you don't miss anything I do during the research.

Tomorrow we are driving for about 45 minutes to Cook's Lake. There we will set traps to catch small mammals. We hope to catch small mice and voles (cute and chubby animals that slightly resemble hamsters). We will weigh, measure, and tag the animals. After that we will release them. We will set 100 traps (that will take a while with only a total of 7 people). The traps will be spaced apart by up to a mile so we will have to walk for a while just for one trap. When we finish setting them, we will have lunch and then return to see if the traps have been sprung (if we caught something).