Last night I spent a good half hour typing up a blog, which then was accidentally erased. I decided to do this blog in two parts to discuss various events that have taken place over the past few days. Deer trapping on Monday and Tuesday was more intensive than usual since we had 30 traps to check instead of 22. It snowed as well, making it more difficult for me to walk rapidly or run to and from traps. Sometimes I love being short, other times I wish I had long legs of a model, but real muscle-y like a cyclist or gymnast. I guess I could make the second wish come true, but not soon.
Anyways, both days we caught pregnant does. I am finally becoming very familiar with the trap sites and the roads. I have a good idea of the tasks at hand for the data recorder as well as the procedures done a doe. I recorded data on Tuesday, but also helped take heart rate, prepare antibiotic for injection, and administer the reversal drug. I can see now that I really enjoy medical procedures and working with needles (is that creepy?). There is something so exhilarating about hearing the heart beat of another animal.
Local nature photographer, Mike Olson, came out with us on Monday and took wonderful photos. I can't wait to receive them! A biologist from Northern Michigan University came out the following day. One of the things I love most about the Predator Prey Project is how big we are on public awareness. One of the top goals this season is to promote it. We take certain people with us on deer and carnivore trappings to inform the public about what we're doing and why we're doing it. Tomorrow we are going to have nine undergraduate students join us in deer trapping and den checks.
Earlier this week I was also sent to the DNR with a couple other technicians to help make "meat necklaces" after deer trapping. These "necklaces" are really pliable metal wires that have pieces of deer meat and bone, which get tied around trees and used as bait for hair snare surveys. (I will explain surveys in the next blog). Unfortunately, the meat was frozen solid in boxes. It was a real struggle to break apart the pieces. I'm not sure who felt it was a good idea to hand me an ax, but there I was hacking away at a box of deer meat and managed to not cut off any limbs. It is a truly effective method of letting out aggression. Caitlin had a great idea to pick up the meat and slam it against the cement ground. It was too heavy for me to lift above my head, but I was still able to break some pieces. Dawn used a tool, the name of which I can't recall, to drill holes into the frozen bits and then string them through the metal wire. I still find it humorous to picture myself, a vegetarian, hacking away at broken bits of frozen deer carcasses. I find that I'm not grossed out by much, but quite fascinated with what the inside of their bodies, and those of other animals, look like.
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