I forgot to mention in my last blog one of the coolest things we saw on our drive into Khao Yai on the first night back!
So we were driving up the winding roads of the park and it was around 8:30 at night and dark out, when in the middle of the road crossing from one side of the forest to the other was: A BANDED KRAIT!
Banded kraits are rare snakes here at Khao Yai, but they are one of the most deadly snakes in the entire world. They are very distinctive looking with black and white bands all along their bodies. Unfortunately because it was dark out, and because I was too freaked out to get out of the car, I just took a picture from inside the car and this picture is not good quality. But if you click on it and enlarge it, you can see the snake on the road. It was pretty exciting to see it. One thing that was super cool about it, was that when the car approached it on the road and we stopped for it, it started to move sideways to move away from the car. That was really neat! Then it just continued straight across the road and went into the forest.
All too often students begin fieldwork full of anticipation and high hopes for big adventure, only to end up burned out and on their way home within a month. This has inspired me to write a post about what it takes to survive primate behavioural research for people who may be considering taking this "road less traveled by" in the future. I won't water it down for you; primate research is not for everyone. Fieldwork is an uphill road, overloaded with obstacles that will test your personal strength every step of the way. (Perhaps there's a reason we opted to leave the forest and culture up our lives, oh so many years ago :). But if you've got what it takes to push yourself beyond the comforts of the average everyday world, and you're interested in finding out just how strong an individual you really are, then studying primates is one of the most inspirational and rewarding jobs available! Think you've got what it takes? Here are my tips for what it
Comments
I would estimate this one was not 2m, maybe 1.5... or 1.8