12 March 2013

We checked our traps at approximately 10:00 am again this morning and we only captured four mongoose - three males and one female. One male and one female were originally captured and marked in July 2012. Many of the traps had the chicken feet (bait) removed; some of those traps were sprung, but others were not. It is not easy to determine how the bait goes missing, but it happens frequently. Securing the bait with with string and wire doesn't seem to deter the the thieves and takes a lot of time. We have observational and trail-camera video data that indicate some mongoose reach into the traps from the side and steal the bait while others step over the trip-mechanism to steal the bait. I have no idea if there are one or a few very skilled and sneaky mongoose who are stealing the bait, or if they all do it once in a while. These kind of data are especially difficult to obtain, and to me not worth the effort. Instead, I just keep score - mongoose 1003 and Buzz 1002.

After releasing the mongoose we went to an abandoned rum distillery just north of Frederiksted that is a roosting site for thousands of Antillean fruit-eating bats (Brachyphylla cavernarum). As we stood in the darkened building listening to their vocalizations and their wing beats, some in our group were less than happy at the shower of bat poop and pee that was raining down from above. I guess they need a little more time in the field to truly appreciate the experience!

Antillean fruit-eating bats in an abandoned rum distillery on the outskirts of Frederiksted, St. Croix.