Salamander Hunting

Well, I'm in North Carolina now in a small town called Highlands. This is the most prissy small town I've ever been in. People dress up just to walk down the street and I feel totally out of place in a tank top and jeans (but its what I brought so its what I wear).

We've been here a little over a week and I've already read through 5 books. Luckily there's a little used book store that seems to have some good stuff. I finally read a Jane Austin novel that I enjoyed. Pride and Prejudice is a fun soap opera.

So, the whole reason we are here is to collect salamanders. We've been out 3 times so far. The first night we caught 143 Plethodon shermani (the sals I work with) and last night we caught 200.

These sals are amazingly easy to find. We just wander around campgrounds and picknick areas with flash nights and there they are. P. shermani are nocturnal and are out looking for food and mates. Its a lot of fun to run around and pick them up.

Not much else is really going on here. I've seen two new birds and one new snake (a copperhead- gorgeous!), which is always exciting.

The animal behavior conference went well. No one grilled me on my poster, which was a relief and I actually had fun talking to people about what I do. I got to meet some all-star scientists as well.

Alright well, I'm bored with this post (which is probably a bad sign for the people who are reading it). Sorry, but there is just not much excitemnet to be had, except that its almost time to feed the sals!

Oh, and once again Scott is the posting slacker!