Set out clouded leopard equipment with Charlie, Masayo, and Koko at Batangan, but one set was missing a few parts and also needed a bit of maintenance, so it will be finished tomorrow. Meg and her crew today caught a civet, which is great news. Apparently it was a pregnant female, who woke up for a second from her anesthesia during data recording, which didn’t cause any issues, but was a bit startling for them for a few seconds.
I took a short nap late in the afternoon on the tile floor in the main facility while the power was still off, which is one of the few places in the heat of the day where it stays relatively cool. I still woke up with a damp shirt though.
After my brief nap, Meg and I went out on the river with Alut to reset some civet tracking equipment. We reset four of six locations, and left the one which had the pregnant femalethis morning, along with another that was overrun by ants.
That’s exciting news about the pregnant civet! Naturally I had to look up a picture since your unable to post pictures at this time. They are an interesting looking animal. I also learned “the Hose’s civet, endemic to the montane forests of northern Borneo, is one of the world’s least known carnivores.” according to https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civet.
Also, other members of this species, primarily those native to Indonesia, are undergoing terrible abuse because of the relationship to coffee. Kopi Luwak,whose popularity surged after being referenced in the movie “The Bucket List”, is a by product of these mammals eating the coffee beans and enzymes in their system acting upon the beans. The binturong has also been used for this purpose. http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2012/nov/19/civet-coffee-abuse-campaigners
I hope that Meg is able to learn more and help protect these beautiful little creatures!
Thanks IKE, This is better than National Geo. Mag. I feel as though I am there. Finn