In all my excitement about this past weekend's exploits, I forgot to mention that I actually found a snake last week. The planets, my flashlight, and my eyes aligned such that I saw a blatantly obvious snake right in front of me. Whew! And I was beginning to think Stevie Wonder and I had more in common than playing the drums. My find was really less than spectacular, since not only was the snake moving at the time, but it was sitting directly on top of a small tree with little vegetation. Given, I still found it, but it wasn't any indication of impressive observational skills.
Last night, I think I lost the small bit of ground I thought I gained. Andy (here's more on Andy for those of you-- such as Andy-- who wanted more) and I conducted a roadline search at NCTAMS. After 3 hours of scanning the trees, neither of us saw a thing. On our way back, we performed the usual protocol of scanning the ground for any serpentine passers-by. I was scanning thoroughly on my side, only occasionally looking up to get my bearings as to how far we were from the car. During one of these brief instances, Andy happened to look over on my side of the road and see a snake right in front of me, warning me of its presence. So, Andy found the one snake of the evening... on my side of the road (this one was moving, too). D'oh!
Yes, I was pissed off. But not at Andy, despite what he may claim. I was angry with myself for not seeing a f[bleep]ing snake right in front of my face. Again, to try and justify myself (let this NOT be construed as some kind of slip of the tongue in regards to how numerous people have suggested I look like Justin Timberlake... I don't), I had looked up for a moment, which is really why I didn't see the snake. Mainly, I just wish that Andy hadn't looked over when he did, since then I would know if I would have seen the damn thing on my own. I told Andy, during my self-loathing, that, in the future, if he sees a snake on my side, to not say anything unless I walk past it and it's blatantly obvious I missed it altogether.
For those of you that may be reading this who know Andy, he's a good searcher. You can also send him an e-mail reasserting that it's not a bad thing to see a snake and say something about it :) I informed him of this, but he still felt badly for seeing the snake (and that's merely because of my reaction). So, Andy, I said it to you in person and I'll say it here: I'm sorry. Also, you're a stud. Ladies, if you're interested, Andy's new calendar is out now. Check it out.
This whole not-being-able-to-find-a-snake thing brings up an interesting point about brown treesnakes. I'm sure some of you are thinking, "But he said the island is crawling with snakes! Why are they so hard to find if, at one point, there were estimated to be 13,000/sq mile?"... or something to that effect. Well, these snakes are ridiculously cryptic. In fact, I think each one of them is required, upon hatching, to learn the techniques in Monty Python's famous skit, ”How Not to Be Seen.” Their goal is to hide from searchers (okay, not us, specifically, but they're not drawing attention to themselves, of course), potential predators (although there really aren't any here), and their prey. Also, they have no eye shine like some other nocturnal creatures, they are brown (think sticks), and for the most part we're looking for them in, albeit low, extremely thick jungle.
So, it's not as if you can see loads of them dangling from every tree. As I have quickly learned, even when a large group of us are out there, we're lucky to see 10 (and that's a really high number). There are some folks who have done very well in finding snakes, but this is especially true for Karen. Her spotting ability is very impressive and I'm hoping to learn something from her. Maybe she does some yoga before a search, centers her chi, and polishes her contact, all adding up to the makings of super-human snake-o-vision. I just don't know. Whatever it is, she's real good.
I'm sure Karen would be quick to point out that I found a snake in the daytime with her on Monday. She found one in some pandanus and I followed suit shortly thereafter. However, this was inside the small snake enclosure in which we performed our initial searches when I arrived. The snake density is much higher in there, plus brown treesnakes seem to really like chilling in pandanus during the day. This is not to detract from our finds: it was great that we caught them. I'll just be more convinced of my abilities once I find a couple more at night.
I guess one of my frustrations is that, while working at Patuxent, I was very good at finding and catching amphibians. It was rare that I had a problem finding things, whether they be frogs, salamanders, or whatever. But searching for amphibians is much different than searching for brown treesnakes. With frogs, they are often vocal or, if they are hiding, they jump when you get close to them. You also can be pretty assured that, with most species, they're going to be near some kind of wetland habitat, so that narrows down the search immensely. With the salamander searches, you're often looking under debris or rocks in their respective habitats. I guess you're just actively seeking out the animals in somewhat targeted areas in which you can have greater certainty of finding them. It seems like there is much less certainty in where you can find a brown treesnake. They could be in any species of tree, on the ground, in shrubs, near water, away from water, it really doesn't matter. Some studies have suggested preferences for certain plant species, but much of that is still inconclusive.
Much of this, I'm hoping, is a result of having a lot more experience with amphibians (and therefore having a more refined search-image). With time, I should get better at finding these snakes. I enjoy this work a lot and, even though it gets boring at times (e.g., when I'm not find jack squat), it's still fun to be out looking for herps. I mainly want to become good at finding them so that I'm able to do well in our studies, but especially on rapid response deployments. That's when finding the snake matters most. Also, I want to be able to claim I'm an awesome snake-spotter. The ladies love that.
I'll end this entry on the lighter, non-self-deprecating side. Soon after I arrived here, I had mentioned something about [Thomas] Magnum P.I. in an e-mail or maybe on this site. Maybe that's because my good friend Westy and I watched so many episodes soon before I came here. Anyway, Joe suggested that I grow a mustache and have people start calling me Magnum. Well, dear brother, I'm sorry to say that the title is taken. A guy, who I believe works for D.O.D. as a wildlife consultant (or maybe he's with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service), has secured that nickname from some of the folks on the project. And I have to say he's much more deserving of the title! This guy actually has a mustache, he's tall (, dark, and handsome...wait a minute...), and I've seen him wearing some pretty skimpy shorts on occasion. For the benefit of my friends over in 242 Gabrielson: "Hot pants... make ya... shoot yaself! Haaaaaay!"