Ants to Elephants

This August I committed myself to problem-solving tasks.  To increase the life of my camera traps I tested methods (including sticky glue to catch mice) to prevent ant invasions.  I also looked into the purchase of materials to build “elephant proof” protective housings for the cameras.  I have only found shops selling heavy steel, so it will take more time to buy metal for my purpose.  We did buy supplies to build 6 box-traps in preparation for dhole trapping.

On the camera trap side of things, I baited with a road-killed sambar deer late in the month, but only captured photos of large monitor lizards.

This month I tested GPS tracking keys.  They are made for vehicle tracking, so I have to play with the settings to get them to work correctly for my use (domestic dogs).  So far I have not had success with the GPS keys.  One brand is not recognized by my computer and I need to spend some time to mess around with the USB drivers.  I did a 10 day test of the Trackstick brand on a domestic dog.  I tested the key beforehand with me walking and was able to map points easily in Google Earth; however, the memory was blank when I retrieved it from the dog!  This may have been due to the settings because I set it to record every 15 minutes instead of every 15 seconds.  Also, the silica caulk around the seams got rubbed off and the batteries were wet.  The dog's owner told me that he saw a flashing red light for 3 days and then no light.  A red light indicates the unit is not able to take a GPS fix.  And, it does not sound promising that the batteries may have died after 3 days.  I am drying the Trackstick with silica gel and will try another dog test.  The stick's batteries are supposed to last a week, but this is considering a vehicle that may only be in motion 3 hours a day.  As an alternative, I am in contact with companies that make wildlife telemetry collars to see who can make a very basic and cheap GPS collar.

To tackle funding, we prepared and sent proposals to San Diego Wild Animal Park and the Smithsonian Endowment Fund.  From my appeals to zoo list servers, I was contacted about a funding opportunity at Taronga Zoo in Australia (due date end of October).

In September I will continue my camera trapping efforts and prepare the logistics for dhole trapping.  I am also working on a proposal and forms to collect anal sac secretions from dholes at San Diego to make a trapping lure.