"Smells like fetuses"

Having set ten new traps on private land, Nate was at first very optimistic about capturing more deer. This morning we entered the site with energy and optimism. "Smells like fetuses" were Nate's lovely words of encouragement. Unfortunately, we didn't come close to smelling any fetuses, or to put more accurately, weren't able to see any during an ultrasound. Hopefully we will have more luck later this week with this new site.

Yesterday we caught one pregnant doe, and Nate showed me how to put in a VIT (vaginal implant transmitter) tag. It is much more difficult than it looks. First I had to make sure there was plenty of lubrication on the tube, which the VIT tag is placed inside of. Then I had to use my finger to feel inside the doe's vagina, which I admit was very strange and a bit uncomfortable, to have a sense of what direction the tube needs to go. I was instructed to slowly push it in until I hit the cervix. It is easy to know when the cervix is reached because the tube can't go in any further. VIT tags are used to help locate fawns right after birth. The tags are excreted during parturition, and researchers are notified of this since the tag gives off a different signal (i.e. change in frequency) which is triggered by temperature change.

A couple of side notes: in the field we've also seen bald eagles! This is always exciting for me. We've witnessed both adult and mature birds. Second, all our study sites are in mixed, new growth forests. It really saddens me to have learned that most of Michigan has been logged. According to Nate, there is some small bit of old growth up North near Marquette, but otherwise logging from last century and possibly in the 1800's has gotten rid of all the old growth forests.

I am surprised at what a fun and silly field crew I'm a surrounded by. I never would have thought that a tall, plaid-wearing man raised on a farm in a small town (T-dog) would be singing and dancing to "Party in the USA" by Miley Cyrus. For the record, I just had to look up the proper spelling of this girl's name as well as the title of the song. This is clearly not my scene, but I do find it amusing that hard core research scientists "get down" to such pop music.