10/2/2008

We saw a Buschmaster. The morning went as follows: Find a spot of 10 m by 50 m and mark it with tape. Then identify, measure the diameter, and measure the height of every tree within that space. Seems easy enough, except we were traversing a wet dark damp forest that was so dense you could only move around occasionally. We only did two plots of this size and it took us until lunch. Lots of fun though. Afternoon was restful with only a lecture, in which we didn't need to take notes. We ate soup (for you Chinese readers, it's almost exactly like shee-fan). Yum... After analyzing the data, we went on a night hike... well all of the people who wanted to see snakes anyways. This hike wasn't planned, though. There just happened to be a woman working with snakes there (--edit-- 10/14 The girl from Wisconsin). Well, Alyson isn't a fan of snakes, especially when there are many in the forest that only have antidotes in Costa Rica. Oh and some of the venoms would kill you within 4 hours... or less depending on your health. So the rule was, we could go on a night hike, but we couldn't look for snakes. And we were true to our word, and stayed on a very clear path. And... we found a Buschmaster. The woman had been searching for one for 3 years, and had never found one. The forest we were in was completely the wrong type for its habitat. Oh and there isn't an antidote for its venom in Latin America, and you'd die within the hour. Our guide told us people go through entire careers without finding one... and apparently when you dont look for it, you'll find it. Que Chevere!