June 27th-30th, 2017 - NADS Field Meeting and the Art of Catching Flies

G&C Summer 2017

Blogpost 010

June 30th

June 27th - 30th, 2017 - NADS Field meeting and the Art of Catching Flies

Charlotte saw a bear on the research forest grounds, an adult black bear trudging about 10 yards between her and the main building. She was prepared however and knew to back up slowly, never taking her eyes off the lumbering creature who didn’t seem to be interested in homo sapiens-cuisine and continued on its way to wherever bears are hanging out these days. Once Chot was certain she was at a safe distance from the bulk of predatory wonderment she proceeded to take pictures for proof of the encounter. So far that’s one wilderness-concern come to life but still no sign of masked psychopathic wildmen (for now).

                                                 picture of the "black" bear

        

            Since our last journal entry was lengthy I’ll do my best to keep this one under a thousand words, which may be tricky because I’ll be condensing four days worth of adventure to said parameters. Fortunately this week was arguably less eventful (on my end anyway) so we’ll see how this goes.

            First and foremost, I should mention that the reason Charlotte and I were at Lubrecht Experimental Forest, MT, was so that Chot could go insect collecting while I stayed behind at the research center to work on some video editing projects I current have under my belt. Before we embarked on this multi-thousand mile pilgrimage I shot two commercials back-to-back. One was for an uncle (featuring a pellet smoker box) with no real due-date and the other was for a friend/client for their personal startup company. As you can imagine there’s more pressure to finish the later project. I’d completed most of the initial first cuts and animation bits before we left California but took a week off for Jackson-Hole. That unfortunately meant that this week (for me anyway) was spent sitting on my tushy and staring into the ethereal abyss that makes up the Adobe Creative suite.

Snowshoe Hare hanging around the dinning hall

            Charlotte’s week on the other hand was the exact opposite with every day involving multiple new hunting spots with her cohort. She traveled through forests, mountain ranges, riverbanks, and even through snow to catch her prized robber flies (by which she caught a total of 14). But let it be known that catching said robber flies is no easy matter for I’ve been told that they can see danger coming from a mile away, seeing as they’re predatory by nature and whatnot. And after each day’s end my fiancé would spend hours upon hours in the wet-lab pinning and dissecting her daily catches (in-between the occasional bear-sighting).

Charlotte at the Montana-Idaho Pass

Pretty trillium with snow in the background

            We were fortunate to spend one day this week hunting together on Wednesday the 28th. Our trip was divided into two locations; a riverbank of a valley in-between two massive Montanan mountains and a forested mountain park teaming with enough flies to horrify anyone without a diehard passion for entomological research (like me).

            I did not scream once but that did not stop the occasional EW-EW-EWWWWWW moments I endured in silence when a bee buzzed past my face or when a swarm of greasy mouth-puckering houseflies invaded my arm-skin for its rich, salty essence.

            This wasn’t my first collecting with my love and I’d been marginally successful at it so Charlotte gave me a net and two collecting vials and cut me loose into the wilderness like a hyperactive puppy without a clue of where to go and what not to pee on.

            I was instructed to consolidate my efforts to the numerous horizontal tree trunks lain strewn about the forest floor as Asilidae (robber flies) have been known for taking claim of natural structures like these as their own. Asilidae are territorial predators so a fallen edifice of decaying timber makes for the perfect place to just watch and wait for food to come to you, as well as a safe oviposition site.

            At first, both of us were having difficulty finding any Asilidae so we shifted our hunt to the treacherous slope of the mountain that lay parallel to the park. Apparently robber flies prefer territories at higher elevations and there were more than enough fallen trees for them to claim and sure enough there were robber flies a-plenty. Charlotte’s decision to come up this way would have been perfect had it not been for the sharp seventy-degree incline of gravel and loose soil for which we had to cross without slipping whilst stealthily stalking our microscopic prey. The feat was not an easy one; in fact it was nearly impossible. Charlotte managed only to bag two asilids while I captured three bee-flies (who look and act just like robber-flies but aren’t robber flies and therefor useless). Despite my best intentions my footing, stamina, and eyes just couldn’t compete with Charlotte’s and so I threw in the towel halfway up the slope after slipping on a rock and sliding butt-first down several yards of harsh Mother Nature.

First time ever seeing Bighorn Sheep!

A mom and her baby!

            Apparently the rest of the week’s entomological excursions proved to be less fruitful than the firsts but regardless, Charlotte had a lovely time socializing with fellow experts and fly-guys and spent a good, solid chunk of her time making much-needed dissections. I, on the other hand finished a complete-rough cut of my weekly project (though tweaking and photoshopping still needs to be administered). Yet I’d say that this week was a productive one. As I am writing this, my fiancé and I have already moved on from Lubrecht and are currently just beyond the threshold of Glacier national park. Tomorrow I’ll write of our first day in the park and tell of how Charlotte almost killed herself with a heart attack on the way. CHOW.

Cool Beargrass!

                                                  Charlotte overcoming her fear of snakes