True Country Girl

This past weekend was spent travelling and conducting cave censuses at two different sites. On Friday we went to the Bamberger Ranch, which is a large patch of conservation land. The owners conduct a lot of educational tours and have received many rewards for their conservation efforts. The cave where we held the census is the only man-made bat cave in the world and was constructed like an upside down swimming pool. We hypothesize that there are about 50,000 Brazilian free-tailed bats living there currently and we will have more concrete data once we have the opportunity to analyze the data from the thermal camera. The cave has a viewing room in the back so I was able to go in and watch the bats swarming at the mouth of the cave before they left for their evening of foraging. As you might imagine, the stench was pretty impressive and I was forced to cover my mouth and breathe through my handy bandana. Liz, Kristen, and Dan have expressed their doubts about the bandana and think that it is a very silly article of clothing, but I adamantly attest to its various uses and it has become a standing joke that the bandana could save me from any situation. I carry it with me at all times and this came in useful when we ran into a gang of motorcyclists.
That evening we spent the night in a cabin on the Bamberger property just off of a dirt/gravel road. As we were driving back in the dark, we saw an armadillo sitting in the middle of the road. But before I get ahead of myself, let me give y’all the back story. Juan Jose (Liz’s husband) came out with her last summer to help with some of the research and there is a legendary story of him catching a wild armadillo. Dan, not wanting any doubt cast onto his manliness and not wanting to be out done by Juan Jose, has been waiting for the opportunity to catch a wild armadillo. Well Friday night Dan found the opportunity and as soon as we spotted the creature, Liz slammed on the brakes and Dan yelled for one of us to toss him a head lamp. Unfortunately the armadillo was already making good on his retreat so Dan yelled, “Oh screw it!” and leapt out of the car in hot pursuit. Fortunately, I was able to toss him a headlamp before he got too far and soon he was weaving in and out of trees and jumping over branches. The armadillo was about to escape in to his hole, so Dan made a bold move and lunged through the air and tackled the armadillo. He was able to grab onto his tail and Liz, Kristen, and I rushed over and were able to get a good view of an armadillo butt :-) Don’t worry; we soon released the armadillo, who was uninjured and scuttled back into his hole.
The cave we went to Saturday evening is located in Round Mountain, Texas which is near Austin. This is a natural cave and is set on the side of a steep cliff; this made carrying the 40lbs camera and computer equipment for the thermal camera up to the cave a sweaty and unpleasant job. However, the view was worth all of the hard work; we were able to watch the sun set over the “hill country” as it is called out here in Texas. The sky was golden red and the shadows of the bats speckled the background as they flew from the cave. As the free-tails leave, they fly in a column and swoop off into the dusk. The flapping of their wings sounds like rain pattering on a tin roof.
On our drive to the cave, which is out in the middle of nowhere, we ran into a huge road block…of long horn cows! There were dozens of them standing obstinately in the middle of the road staring questioningly at us. We were finally able to coax them to move out of the way, but not without listening to them moo incessantly to let us know that we had rudely disturbed their evening amble.
During the day on Saturday we lounged around at Barton Springs. Right outside of Austin there are several natural springs that have been transformed into a public swimming area. It was a scorching hot day and the place was filled with people. It was a nice change from the orchard where I only see the same 5 people every day. The springs are enclosed in concrete like a pool, but there is thick, green grass growing at the bottom. The water was cold and refreshing and there was even a diving board that we took advantage of.
The census Saturday night was finished around 10pm. We drove to Liz’s friend’s house in Austin and spent the night there. We arrived around midnight and then Kristen, Dan, and I decided we wanted to explore the city. Liz dropped us off and we wandered around and eventually decided to go dancing. Austin is a very vibrant city. They streets were blocked off and there were lots of people walking around and many venders selling all sorts of different foods. I was hoping to find some live street music, but unfortunately I think we got into the city too late. We grabbed a cab and went back home. The house was beautiful, but very small so I ended up sleeping on a sleeping bag on the hardwood floor (thank you Zoe!!). It wasn’t the most comfortable of spots, but I have gotten used to sleeping in strange places since arriving in Texas. I am usually tired enough to fall asleep most anywhere.
Sunday night we went back to the Bamberger Cave and took another census reading before driving back to the orchard. Since being home, we mist netted once and are taking tonight off. Yesterday I was working out when I heard Dan call for someone to come outside. I walked over to see what was going on and he motioned to the side of the house. Apparently Coqueta had jumped into the bushes near the house and knocked something over. Dan was worries she had knocked a propane tank over and went to investigate. As he was nosing around, he heard a hissing noise closer to the pipes on the side of the house. He pulled the shrubbery aside to reach the pipes and discover the source of the hissing. As he did so, a rattle snake lunged at him. Luckily, he was able to pull his hands back in time and avoided being bitten. I came on the scene just in time to see the snake slithering away alongside the house. I really hope it never finds its way into the house.
A huge storm is hitting us right now and I am enjoying relaxing inside. We just finished a wonderful dinner of deer neck stew. John killed the deer last year and froze it and Liz and I boiled the meat to make a broth and added lots of vegetables and rice. It turned out really well. I feel like such an authentic Texan eating wild hog and deer neck! In addition to eating the right foods, I have also encountered the appropriate pests, poisonous plants, and parasites. I am covered in mosquito bites, biting fly bites, and poison oak. Kristen and I both have a lovely rash from what we have guessed is poison oak so the other day we went to the Laundromat to do some washing (some place other than in an outdoor sink where fish and other animals are sacrificed). While we were there, we met a woman who was also doing some laundry. The people of San Saba being as friendly as they are, she quickly engaged us in conversation and when we explained that we are doing field work with bats she exclaimed that Kristen and I “really are true country girls!” So there you have it, straight from the horse’s mouth…I am a true country girl!