5 July 2008
Well, we've finished our 2nd trapline and had quite a pleasant week. The temperatures dropped about 10 degrees into the low 90's, the smokey skies cleared a bit, and the trapline itself was much easier than the first. So, it was a great week!
Overall, we didn't catch quite as much as on the first trapline- lots of Peromyscus again, and some voles, but no other species. I think we are generally checking our traps too early to catch the squirrels, since they are late risers and like the warmer daytime conditions. So, we did an afternoon of trapping on Thursday to target squirrels, and ended up catching 3 California ground squirrels. They are such beautiful animals! They are also much bigger than everything else we have caught, but after one escapee, Ariel and I managed to perfect our methods and we ended up collecting two squirrels. Skinning them was quite a chore- their tails are very difficult to remove and we both struggled with skinning for a number of hours, but managed to finish just in time to head into Redding for the Fourth of July!
The Redding fireworks celebration was canceled due to the fires, but my labmate Brenna was in town visiting her parents, who live in Redding. So, we went over to their house and had a very nice dinner and were able to sleep in this morning (and tomorrow too!). There has been a lot of car/boat traffic at Hirz Bay as people arrive for the holiday weekend, but overall it's relatively quiet, probably because the lake is so low. Both Ariel and I have been envying the boaters their nice water though. Anyone want to bring up a boat so I can waterski and Ariel can wakeboard? We can provide lots of entertainment as you watch us try to skin mice and squirrels!
No comments:
Post a Comment