O Madagascar: Sacred Beach Lemurs 2010

[windsor]

HE PRESCRIBED ME CODEINE!! YAY!!!!!!!!!!!

THAT helps.

Better living through Narcotics, that's what I always say...

Hope the Codeine helps, and the dentist gets to the source of the problem and fixes it:
Hope he has some

--- Tooth healin' vibes

[lawgrad91]

Codeine! Always a favorite!

Vibes and prayers for you, Lavabe. Feel better very quickly!

[captmojo]

Can Percodan be obtained, perhaps? I may be willing to race EJ to Kaintuck to get to your leftovers!

[Lavabe]

Based on the xrays and a quick exam, the dentist today says that I am responding to the antibiotic, so I'll have another five-day course of treatment. I am clear to resume work. I'll probably head on Sunday to the site, and start collecting data on Monday. I'm not 100%, but being on the mend is a good thing. As for the codeine, I had two yesterday, and one today. I would like not to have to use it , but I won't be stupid.

[CameronBornAndBred]

Based on the xrays and a quick exam, the dentist today says that I am responding to the antibiotic, so I'll have another five-day course of treatment. I am clear to resume work. I'll probably head on Sunday to the site, and start collecting data on Monday. I'm not 100%, but being on the mend is a good thing. As for the codeine, I had two yesterday, and one today. I would like not to have to use it , but I won't be stupid.

Sounds like good news.

[OZZIE4DUKE]

Based on the xrays and a quick exam, the dentist today says that I am responding to the antibiotic, so I'll have another five-day course of treatment. I am clear to resume work. I'll probably head on Sunday to the site, and start collecting data on Monday. I'm not 100%, but being on the mend is a good thing. As for the codeine, I had two yesterday, and one today. I would like not to have to use it , but I won't be stupid.

Glad the treatment is working and you are getting some pain relief. Celebrate the Fourth and then GET BACK TO WORK!

[lawgrad91]

Glad your infection is getting better, and the pain is under some control. Vibes for continued recovery and getting back to the lemurs!

[devildeac]

[CathyCA]

I'm glad you're on the mend.

[devildeac]

I'm glad you're on the mend.

Seconded. Glad it doesn't sound like you'll need:

[Lavabe]

As for the sacred site, Ido still have some responsibility to assure that the site will work for study, as one of the grad students of my colleague from Ontario is going to study there next year. I also need to figure out how many Sanford's lemurs have been killed there (i.e., how many remain) and in other locations during the last few years.

Probably the first detail to clarify is that we knew there was a military vehicle, but the fact is that we didn't have ANY evidence of military using it. Upon extensive discussions in local towns, no one saw military, but they did report some folks from Antsiranana who had the vehicle. Once we arrived in Antsiranana, we determined that the person everyone fingered is NOT in the military. HOWEVER, the military needed to be notified that someone was using military property for illegal purposes.

However, I had no authority to contact military. My responsibility was to discuss matters with the regional chief of the Water and Forestry Ministry, the authority in charge of these forests. My field assistant and I explained all that we observed, and the chief wrote down EVERYTHING. He'll contact the military, and set up discussions with the towns en route. Whoever it was who did this, needs to be brought to Water & Forestry, so that we can determine what is left of Sanford's lemurs.

Probably the biggest thing we can get out of this is assistance from the military. Even a sign of assistance can go a long way in protecting the region.

The Ministry of Tourism will be notified as well, as the fact remains that a foreigner with proper authorization was in a forest where SOMEONE was shooting. That CAn NOT be good for tourism.

[Lavabe]

My original plan was to observe behavior in groups of crowned lemurs and Sanford's lemurs, but in a sacred forest fragment where I had seen them last year. That plan got scrapped when a sport hunter removed one of the species from that site. I then went to a forest fragment that was not sacred, but which has both species.

I just got back yesterday afternoon. Two issues surfaced immediately:
1) Both species act much differently from how they behave in the good large forest where I did my doctoral dissertation work. In fact, this new forest fragment is pretty small (maybe 100 hectares... a hectare is 100meters by 100 meters), but was the subject of EXTENSIVE logging in the 1980's. This means that it is very dense with smaller trees, bushes, and tangles. But it also means that people have been moving their farmland nearby, creating even more damage. So what appears as 100 hectares is actually no more than about 50 hectares, most of which is forest edge. WHAT THIS MEANS is that it is nearly impossible to follow these species without trails that mirror their home ranges, and I had no hope of having such trails put in during my stay.
2) The lemurs get up at 4-ish, and the crowned lemurs start traveling around 512AM... and they travel fast and long. Hard to follow the same group for more than a few minutes if you HAVE NO LIGHT, especially in dense cover. The Sanford's were somewhat easier to follow, but would also be difficult to follow sans trails.

So, I decided to bug out. Three months would be okay for the site, if it was just the one site, but that was not in the offing this year.

Having said that, I was able to talk more at length with local people about their use of and interaction with the forest, and THAT can (and will) be written up. SO, I was partially successful in my stay at the site. I hope that trails get put in, so that I can study these lemurs, but given the pressing issues of the area, I wonder just how much longer that site will continue to exist. While I was following one group, I encountered a bush fire beside their home range. And clearly, a lot of banana plantations are going up, even in the last two years.

But people view these lemurs and the forest in ways that are very surprising. Although many people have no fady (tradition or taboo) against the taking of the lemurs, most people hold these lemurs as something different from the rest of the forest animals. When I asked people to name 5 forest animals, lemurs rarely came up. However, everyone could say something about them, and the language was metaphoric. No folklore, no fady, but something more. I have to do some more work on this, but I believe they don't view them completely as animals, but as something else. More details on this as I get some translations verified.

If you think this is kind of strange, consider that in the US, one of the more difficult things to teach in biology is the concept of humans as part of a group of biological organisms that includes primates. In some cases, it's tough to teach that humans are biological organisms. It tends to go against many people's beliefs. Belief systems are powerful things.

Maybe what's going on here in Madagascar are belief systems that hold these lemurs as something (nearly) identical to humans. And for the lemurs' conservation, that may be a bit of good news to come from this work, even in an unprotected forest fragment.

[Lavabe]

Given my previous post, I will be headed home on 7/27, about two and a half weeks early. Work is essentially done. Healthwise, I'm fine. I had a bad throat infection shortly after my gingival infection, but that cleared up in about 5 days. I DO have REALLY BADLY cracked feet (hiking in sandals, covering long distances in dusty paths will do that), but my fitness and aerobic capacity are in fantastic shape. Have yet to weigh in from the last camp trip.

[CameronBornAndBred]

Given my previous post, I will be headed home on 7/27, about two and a half weeks early.... Healthwise, I'm fine.

Sorry you're not able to everything you wanted, but it's good to hear you're doing well and coming home. I'm sure both are music to ILJ's ears.

[OZZIE4DUKE]

Thanks for the update. Glad you got over your infections!

[Lavabe]

oH YEAH... I'm down to 224 pounds. Would have been under my target had I been at the last site another week. Beans. lentils, and rice. Ymm.

[CathyCA]

oH YEAH... I'm down to 224 pounds. Would have been under my target had I been at the last site another week. Beans. lentils, and rice. Ymm.

Sign me up for this trip. I need the Madagascar diet!

[DukieInKansas]

oH YEAH... I'm down to 224 pounds. Would have been under my target had I been at the last site another week. Beans. lentils, and rice. Ymm.

Sign me up for this trip. I need the Madagascar diet!

I want to go, too!

[captmojo]

Sounds like maybe it should be...Beans, Lentils and Rice...Oh my!
Get home good, and discover this...
http://www.crackcreme.com/

Don't use it on the wrong crack!

[ArkieDukie]

oH YEAH... I'm down to 224 pounds. Would have been under my target had I been at the last site another week. Beans. lentils, and rice. Ymm.

Sign me up for this trip. I need the Madagascar diet!

I want to go, too!

Me three.