So sorry about the griping post yesterday, but when I don't update, it's for a reason and I felt like I should at least say hello, here I am.

Today I got really underway with the new aspects of my job. I went to the radio-tracking lab and learned all about their proposal to radio-track dipteryx seeds. They already track agoutis and ocelots out here with some cool triangulating radio towers that let them see where things are in real time. They are adding the dipteryx seeds into the mix so they can see how far agoutis carry them and how often the agoutis forget them. Agoutis forgetting seeds is an important part of the tree's reproduction process. Plus the fact that ocelots kill agoutis is another aspect to that equation.

Much of the "working" hours of 9-5 were spent not doing too much. There was a big old hubbub when a troupe of howler monkeys was right outside. I got very very close and watched them eating for what seemed like forever. They dangle by their tails, have babies on their backs, make cute faces, poop, all sorts of cute monkey things. The best moment was when some female monkey with a baby was making a high-pitched whining sound for quite a while. Then one of the male howlers walked right up to her and gave a deep howl right in her face. That quieted her down. Then she skulked off to go call my mom at women's services.

Later tonight I attended a talk given by Compton on outbreaks of Ebola virus. Basically he's been using satellite climate mapping to find when and where and how Ebola emerges from the jungle. They've narrowed it down to certain climactic conditions in a few areas of Gabon and Congo. Now what the host is, no one knows, but the research definitely helps point people in the right direction.

Afterwards we immediately headed out on a tarantula hunt with the Argos. We found about 4 or 5 of them, and typically Bryson went and grabbed them right away. We also found a crab which we brought back. I dropped it in the office, it skittered around to much merriment! Huzzah!

And so I am off to bed. Tomorrow hold more researcher interviews and such. Tomorrow also heralds the start of packing up...