Want to go for a pedicure? What about a fish pedicure? I spotted a poster in Kuala Lumpur (KL), Malaysia, and for less than $10 per 30 minutes you can stick your feet in a tub of minnows to let them exfoliate your skin by feeding off of dead skin and bacteria. I couldn’t resist (being a biologist and all).
I’m in KL for the ASEAN mid-year Fulbright Enrichment Conference. To explore the offerings of this clean, modern, Asian city – and despite the late hour— my new friends and I headed for the Spa. We were herded up a narrow staircase where we carefully removed shoes prior to entering the “spa”—a converted living room (whose owner was busy watching TV). A woman employee led us to floor level sinks to wash our feet and then over to the tank…
It was a 2 meter x 1 meter FISH TANK with benches on either side. Slide your butt to the middle of the bench, swing your legs over, and dip---slowly. The first 10 minutes we laughed uncontrollably. Completely shocked at the new tickling sensation. I can best describe it as a light scraping against your feet (really they are sucking). I was thrilled, but shocked that some of the fish were only slightly smaller than a computer mouse! The fish are called Garra Rufa or Dr. Fish.
Kinda yucky in a bizarre sort of frightening way? Yes. Kinda touristy? Definitely. But the sensation of those first few seconds as you immerse your foot for that very first bite? Absolutely priceless.
Field Prep.
We are photographing plenty of dholes and bears (most likely due to the hot season, abundant water in my focal area, and perhaps our baiting attempts…baiting is certainly drawing the bears which we had never previously photo trapped). We continue to bait traps even though they are not set.
Unfortunately, we lost a trap last night to elephants. The metal structure was completely crushed and the trap cannot be salvaged. I have been busy locating veterinary supplies and had some delays with confusion over which drugs the vet already had and which ones he needed. I am working with a vet from a breeding center in the province (he speaks little English, so that may be a challenge). We finally set a date to set our traps and attempt captures: March 2nd!
During the middle of March I will attend (and present my dhole research) at the Fulbright Regional Enrichment Conference for American Fulbright Scholars in Southeast Asia, held in Malaysia. But, I hope to work on trapping at every opportunity, so stay tuned…
Unfortunately, we lost a trap last night to elephants. The metal structure was completely crushed and the trap cannot be salvaged. I have been busy locating veterinary supplies and had some delays with confusion over which drugs the vet already had and which ones he needed. I am working with a vet from a breeding center in the province (he speaks little English, so that may be a challenge). We finally set a date to set our traps and attempt captures: March 2nd!
During the middle of March I will attend (and present my dhole research) at the Fulbright Regional Enrichment Conference for American Fulbright Scholars in Southeast Asia, held in Malaysia. But, I hope to work on trapping at every opportunity, so stay tuned…
Clouded Leopard Summit
In January, I spent an intensive week at the Smithsonian’s Conservation and Research Center. Dr. Peter Leimgruber and I completed a manuscript using camera trap data from Khao Yai National Park and it is now being edited by all authors. We plan to submit the paper by the end of February. We also made progress with models predicting carnivore distribution in the park. I will continue to tweak these in the upcoming months.
I submitted grant proposals for a Smithsonian Predoctoral Fellowship and Association for Women in Science grant. My dissertation proposal was officially signed by my committee.
I am now back in Thailand and attended a Clouded Leopard and Small Felid Summit last week. It was great to get all SE Asia felid researchers in one room to update distribution maps for species. In working groups by country we outlined threats and identified actions that members of the group thought would have a conservation impact and that we could actually implement. We identified the need to share data between study sites in Thailand and I was charged with organizing that from the complex where I am working. I also made some good networking contacts which led to a couple of ideas to implement for trapping dholes.
Next month I will be back at my field site to check out what our camera traps captured while I was away. I will purchase supplies and work with our vet’s schedule to determine when we can open our traps. I received and tested two GPS/GSM collars last month. My dog, Zeus, was happy to run around as my guinea pig and recorded very accurate locations (not under forest cover though…out on a frozen lake in Wisconsin). Anyway, I am looking forward to finally getting trapping started.
I submitted grant proposals for a Smithsonian Predoctoral Fellowship and Association for Women in Science grant. My dissertation proposal was officially signed by my committee.
I am now back in Thailand and attended a Clouded Leopard and Small Felid Summit last week. It was great to get all SE Asia felid researchers in one room to update distribution maps for species. In working groups by country we outlined threats and identified actions that members of the group thought would have a conservation impact and that we could actually implement. We identified the need to share data between study sites in Thailand and I was charged with organizing that from the complex where I am working. I also made some good networking contacts which led to a couple of ideas to implement for trapping dholes.
Next month I will be back at my field site to check out what our camera traps captured while I was away. I will purchase supplies and work with our vet’s schedule to determine when we can open our traps. I received and tested two GPS/GSM collars last month. My dog, Zeus, was happy to run around as my guinea pig and recorded very accurate locations (not under forest cover though…out on a frozen lake in Wisconsin). Anyway, I am looking forward to finally getting trapping started.