Dogs, Goats, and Travels

Sorry I haven't posted in a long time. Lots of little stories, little nothings, and awkward moments but nothing I thought was quite blog post worthy. No big discoveries, no mountains of poop (tho I keep dreaming), and definitely no cheetah photos. Sigh... tho I will say there have been plenty of cheetah sightings by everyone BUT ME. A bush pilot who flies over part of our study area quite frequently saw 6 cheetahs (2 adults, 4 sub-adults) on a particular ranch a few nights ago, there was a report of a single cheetah on that same ranch that killed an antelope, 3 sunbathing on a rock near a ranch office, and Cosmas, one of our very own, accidentally stumbled upon a cheetah (and scared it, but not enough to scare it shitless, damn) while looking for samples for me around "poop rock." Yes, we have a poop rock. And no, it doesn't quite live up to it's name. We do have a poop road, and that definitely does. That's where my first fresh poop samples came from!

Tomorrow I am embarking on an exciting journey. We are heading 10 hours north of Nairobi to an area called Samburu. I have decided to try and expand my study site to a new area. ACK already has cheetah scouts working in this conservancy, and they are telling us they have been finding fresh cheetah poop. Because this area is very different from the current areas I am studying, this could act as a control area and give us valuable information about cheetahs living in more natural situations and habitats. The Samburu area has many more predators/competitors for the cheetah. There are leopards and hyenas, but also lions. Other animals in Samburu include large numbers of buffalo and elephants. Very different environment, much hotter and more severe droughts. After shivering to sleep so many nights, maybe the heat will be nice... FOR ABOUT A MINUTE, GAH. The communications there are limited and we have no electricity. Thus, you will not be hearing from me after this for at least a week but hopefully when you finally do, IT WILL BE AMAZING. I hope to have some awesome pictures and stories for you... but don't get your hopes up TOO high please. :)

To ease your curiosity for now I will enlighten you with a little story about Ed (one of our bait goats) and Ginger (Mary's silly dog).

Handsome Edward Sampson the 11th

He loves plain grass... even more than leafy branches. What a goon.

Ed had just finished his week in the cage (we have 3 goats on rotation) and we were heading out on our way to take him home. The rest of the crew had the truck and we had the Toyota Rav. We keep the spare tire in the way back/trunk of the Rav because some of the bolts are missing that are used to hang it on the back. Because Mary didn't want Ed to poop or pee all over her car we put him in the way back, where he had to balance on the spare tire while we drove. Mary and I sat in the front and Ginger took over the back seat. I looked back to quite a view...

Oh hey guys... just a normal day at work!

Ginger expresses her unease with the situation... Ed already seems like he's up to something...

Ginger seemed a wee bit nervous about this situation. She wasn't too fond of the goat hanging out in the car. As we were heading down the driveway to the highway, Ginger suddenly was desperately trying to get into the front seat and onto my lap. She's usually pretty good about hanging out in the backseat so this was weird. Then I looked back and saw that Ed had had about enough of this balancing on the tire bullshit and decided Ginger looked way more comfortable in the seat. He jumped over the back of the seat and had taken up real estate on one side of the backseat (totally content to share the rest with Ginger). Ginger would have no part of this. We couldn't keep Ed out of the backseat and we couldn't keep Ginger back there with him. And this is when things got ridiculous. Kenyans already think most of us Mzungus (white people) are crazy when it comes to pets. They see us letting our dogs sleep in our bed, carrying them around, riding in our cars... They see them as animals that protect their house/bomas or for some, just as pests. So imagine the sight that the Kenyan's had (including some police) when we pulled onto the highway with Mary driving, Ginger (A DOG) sitting shotgun, and Ed (A GOAT) and I sharing the backseat. People were staring. But I'm pretty sure Ed loved it. I was sad to see him go, I'm getting attached to these little goats. Almost makes me want to get some when I get home!

Still looking nervous, even though she's secured shotgun.

Ed, happily hanging out on his comfy new seat. And he didn't even poop in the car!

Oh also, I found this cool spider.

While I was taking the picture, one of the herders started yelling at me when I tried to hold the plant steady (he doesn't speak English very well), but I could understand that he was indicating it was poisonous. He said, AHH POISON, MOUTH EYES!!! Found out later that if I had touched any mucous membranes after touching that plant I would have had nasty blisters all over. Gross. But thank you herder man, and thank him I did, by sharing my biscuits with him. :)

Hope everyone still has all their phalanges after this holiday (be safe with those bottle rockets)!

HAPPY 'MERICA DAY!

See you in a week!

LION KING SIDEBAR: I've recently discovered that PRIDE ROCK IS A REAL PLACE IN KENYA! I will be driving past the area on my way to Samburu but I will not be able to see it from the highway (le super tear). BUT OMG, PRIDE ROCK IS REAL. Best part is, they called it Pride Rock before the movie. Boom. What I wouldn't give to walk on the real Pride Rock though. Sigh, maybe one day...