Leaving Mara (and Kenya) today...

Wow-- none of us can believe that beam is coming to an end. Where did the time go?

Just a reminder that the course lands at the Detroit airport on June 1st at 1028am. 

Safari enjema!

Last day in the Mara

Today is our last full day in the Mara so we are cramming lots in! We went on a walking safari this morning and learned how to identify animal tracks and dung, and had some close encounters with giraffes and baboons. There was also some goofing off with our Masaai guides.

This is an Acacia tree that has a mutualistic relationship with ants. That is, ants live in the black bulbs near the base of the thorn and attack animals that try to eat the leaves of the tree.

Clever weaver birds will make their nests in the acacia trees. Anything wanting to eat their eggs will have to get past some nasty ants and thorns first!

This is a trap made by a lion ant. When insects fall into the hole, the ant can sense the vibration and will come eat the trapped bug.

The Maasaai men grabbed Allie for an impromptu dance.

Later went on a drive and got an awesome view of some hippos and a leopard.

I didn't get a picture of the leopard with my phone, but I managed to capture some of the excitement in the car...

Having some fun between projects

The students are getting ready to present their final research projects tomorrow, but for now we're trying to relax and take a drive around the Mara to see some cool stuff. Unfortunately for me, most of the views consist of slap happy students. Enjoy!

(They are being attacked by flies...)

(Ellen showing off her dance moves and American music to our likely confused Kenyan driver/guide, Chris)

Visit to a primary school

Today we visited a school as well as the homestead of one of the Masaai men who works with the hyena project. We learned about the education system, the pastoralist lifestyle of the Masaai tribe, and got to experience lots of Masaai dancing and music. We also found a puppy, which was a big hit all around!

Here are some photos from the primary school (they were trying to teach us a dance...unsuccessfully I might add!)

Mara update and pictures

We haven't been great at posting because we've all been very busy lately! The students are working on their final research project on topi behavior, and we have had guest lectures from

Cheetah and lion researchers, a science writer, and the manager of half of the masaai Mara reserve. We have also seen cheetahs in person, which was very exciting!

(Collecting topi behavior on a rainy day...after a picture of course)

Mara: Hyena Research

Today we were fortunate to observe an immobilization and sampling event of an adult male hyena by the Mara Hyena Project (msuhyenas.blogspot.com; hyenas.zoology.msu.edu). It was great getting up close and personal with such an impressive large carnivore!

Maasai Mara Day 3

(This post was written two days ago and just now published. Yay internet problems! We will post a more up to date one soon.)

Today has been busy! We did small mammal trapping in the morning. We used Sherman traps to live trap Nile grass rats. These little guys create small pathways leading from their burrows to their favorite foraging areas, which allows for quick escape from their predators. We put traps baited with tasty oats in the pathways and caught over 20 rats. This was not without drama, however. Baboons and vervet monkeys enjoy both oats and rats, so we had to spend a lot of time chasing them away from the area.  Also, the rats were quite fierce (and agile) and some made daring escapes from some of the students as they we're handling them.

(Instructor vs vervet monkey...round 18)

(Monkey successfully escaped with an entire bag of oats)

(Looking at a Nile grass rat)

(First successful catch of the day!)

(Morgan and Dena are very concerned that Spencer weighs the rat properly..)

We also did presentations today. The presentations were on their first independent research projects on buffalo and zebra behavior.

Mara: Smammal (small mammal) trapping

This morning we got a lecture from Distinguished Professor of Zoology at Michigan State University, Dr. Kay Holekamp, on small mammals in the Mara. After the lecture, we went through an exercise learning how to capture, handle, and release unstriped Nile grass rats. Here's a few photos of some students with their smammals!

Maasai Mara day 2 pm

This afternoon we are working on developing hypotheses to explain giraffe and topi behavior. This will lead to final projects in which the students test their hypotheses by observing behavior in these animals. Developing hypotheses is frustrating so some of the students have gotten slap happy and/or belligerent. They are now demanding we find carnage (I assume they want to see hunting but they are just chanting "carnage" at the moment) and are devising experiments in which they can scare poor, unsuspecting giraffes. I might need to feed them chocolate tonight to appease them...

In the meantime, here are some pictures from our afternoon game drive:

Mara in the morning

We are done collecting behavioral data for our first project on zebra and buffalo behavior so this morning we're spending time watching some different animals (Much to our drivers' relief. They are quite sick of buffalo and zebra!). We have seen black backed jackals, bat eared foxes, hyenas, and lions today so lots of carnivores!

(Hard to see because I took this with my camera phone, but this is of a lion and lioness lying in the grass)

(Students with lions in the background)

(Excitement over lions. Not posed at ALL..I promise)

P.s.  I'm in the car listening to the students talk, and I am happy to report that bowel movements for most of them have returned to normal (we were using lots  of immodium last week for those lucky souls who didn't have to hear about that!)..there has been a lot of poop talk which I suspect does not surprise many of you who know the students (or instructors) personally.

Masai Mara Day 1

We're in the Mara!