The Giant Warthog Disaster
One of the latest projects Craig Packer has been collaborating on involves trying to study cooperative behavior in lions by tempting these big cats hunt different “toys” – like this life-sized wooden buffalo:
One of the most hilarious disasters of our last field season came as a result of trying to lug all of these over-sized ungulates across South Africa. Apparently, simply ratcheting them on to the roof of your truck is only good until you start going fast enough for the wind to rip up and under them (i.e. anything over about 40 miles an hour). I have great pictures of Craig trudging across the highway to retrieve bits and pieces of giant warthogs, wildebeest, and other large wooden creatures whose sudden appearance flying off of our car must have completely baffled our fellow motorists.
Haunted Serengeti
Happy October! Many of our Snapshot night photos are pretty spooky looking — mysterious eyeshine, strange lights, ghostly figures — submit your favorite “haunted” Snapshot image to our blog (comment below) or on our Facebook page and I’ll repost some of the creepiest!
Savannah Sunrise
The work I’m doing out here in the field involves plenty of early mornings and late evenings. It’s more than a bit exhausting, but there is one fantastic bonus: amazing sunrises and sunsets! Here are some of my favorites from over the past few days:
Check out Mammal March Madness!
For some reason I missed this in 2013 and 2014. Maybe it was because I was finishing up my dissertation the first time and then recovering from a cross-country move the second time. But now I am totally excited about 2015’s
Mammal March Madness
What is Mammal March Madness? I’ll let organizer Katie Hinde explain:
In honor of the NCAA College Basketball March Madness Championship Tournament, Mammals Suck is featuring *simulated* combat competition among mammals. … Battle outcome is a function of the two species’ attributes within the battle environment. Attributes considered in calculating battle outcome include temperament, weaponry, armor, body mass, fight style, and other fun facts that are relevant to the outcome.
As a spectator to Mammal March Madness, you fill out a bracket and then follow along on Twitter or on the Mammals Suck … Milk! blog. The first game is on Monday, March 9, and direct elimination games continue until the championship on March 26.
I’ll note that the 2014 winner was Hyena who defeated Orca in the championship game. This year, we’ve got some Serengeti representation as well. But with Lion, Baboon, and Vervet monkey ranked just 8th, 12th, and 13th in the ‘Sexy Beasts’ division, they’re going to need all the cheering-on they can get.
So head on over, print out a bracket, and tell me who you think will make it all the way to the top this year.
(And just to be clear, I am not involved in Mammal March Madness in any way except as a participant. But it looks fun!)
Season 8 Movie Time
Looks like everyone is sinking their teeth into Season 8! As a reminder, feel free to ask questions or chat with us through the Snapshot Serengeti Discussion board or in the comments of any of our blog posts.
Now, there’s some data from this new season that hasn’t made it online — sometimes, instead of taking pictures, our cameras accidentally switch into “video” mode and capture 10-second clips of animals doing their Serengeti thing. While this isn’t very good for us in terms of data collection (although we’ve been tossing around the idea of setting up a Snapshot Serengeti: Video Edition!…), it gives you a unique perspective on the lives of these animals.
(Okay, so it’s mostly animals eating grass. They eat a lot of grass. Perhaps not the most “unique” insight on their behaviors, but they’re still pretty fun to watch). Here’s some of my favorite accidental movies from our new Season!
(If you want more videos, Margaret has blogged some of her favorite movie clips from past seasons here and here)
Everybody dance now!
Formerly titled: I love the Zooniverse, and all its ridiculousness.
Some of you might be familiar with the silly manoeuvres we undertake to trigger the camera traps in the field. The sensors on the cameras are best at capturing movement side-to-side, hence ridiculousness such as this:
The Stan Dance
and this…
Craig surprising the camera
and this.
“The Ali Dance”
Well, fellow Zoo-ites Rob and Grant have now generously attempted their own version of this last one. Check it out on the Zooniverse Advent Calendar here!! And, if you’re feeling especially brave, send in your own recreation to team@zooniverse.org!
Groovin’
Just for fun. I was hanging around on Talk today and stumbled across this grooving Kori Bustard. Kind of makes me want to dance…
dancin’ kori bustard
Snapshot Serengeti 