Mercury Rising Teacher's Log #2

"I started picking up bugs as far back as I could," states Richard LaVal, a scientist studying the bats of the Monteverde cloud forest. "I ignored my mother's warnings and picked up snakes and brought them home. I explored caves and found my first bat, so that's where it all began."

Richard is a field scientist. That means he spends much of his time observing and collecting data outside, rather than working entirely in a laboratory. A laboratory scientist is more likely to make good money, according to Richard, but he's happy with his decision to study the bats of Monteverde. "If you want to be out where the action is, you have to be willing to get along with a little less money. Unless you're lucky."

Alan Pounds, an ecology scientist, has studied the frogs, toads, and lizards of the cloud forest since 1981. He believes the choice of becoming a field scientist was right for him but wouldn't be for everyone. Teaching in a college or university in the United States would provide him with a regular paycheck and security, things that he doesn't have in Monteverde. "I like being in the field and analyzing data," Alan says. "I wanted to do something different."

Becoming a scientist takes a lot of training. Both Alan and Richard studied for many years, earning advanced Masters and Doctorate degrees. They continued their education by doing Post Doctorate studies under the direction of other more experienced scientists.

"Take every science course that's offered," Richard advises high school students. Each will give a scientist advantages later.

Even younger students can begin to explore the world around them. "At an early age I became interested in creatures," Alan says. "When I was little I had tropical fish. Then the aquariums became terrariums. I had lizards and then snakes. I was always interested in being outdoors."

Their love of science, the outdoors, and animals is evident during the time we spend with Alan and Richard.

Being a field scientist can be hard work. Alan leads the seven members of the One World Journeys team on a long hike up the mountain to see the breeding grounds of the Golden Toad, which was last seen in 1989 and is now considered likely to be extinct. Strong rain and wind pelt us as we slide up and down the trails through thick mud, some of us falling numerous times. We climb over and crawl under fallen trees that block our way, until our clothes and backpacks are covered with a brown coat of mud. Only the cameras stay clean. Those of us not smart enough to wear high rubber boots squish our way back down the mountain with wet, muddy socks and shoes. Alan smiles the whole way, telling us, "You get used to the wet. I want to be in an interesting place."

Richard does much of his research at home, listening to bats from his porch and catching bats in a mist net in his garden. He announces to us that he has something in the orange and black bat-printed bag tied around his waist. "This is a real cutey." He removes the Nectar Bat from the bag, spreads one wing to its full width, and points her toward our photographers' cameras. Richard speaks softly to the bat, "Hold still. You're going to be famous."

Many animals can't be easily seen during the day, but become active at night. With headlamps and flashlights we discover some of the cloud forest's nightlife.

Rain Frogs: The greenish-brown frogs we see are just half an inch long. They sit quietly in the beam of our lights, their round eyes bulging.

Golden-groined Rain Frog: This rain frog is about an inch and a half long. Stripes of brown cover his olive legs and body, with yellow on his underside - the "gold." Each leg has three long, skinny toes that end in perfect round balls.

Dink Frog: We don't see the Dink Frog, but hear its short, sharp call. It sounds a little like a hammer hitting a rock in the distance.

Cloud Forest Anole: We see three of these lizards, each on its own leaf. The two adults are pale pink, and the smaller young lizard a creamy light brown. Our guide, Ricky, tells us their skin color can change, somewhat like a chameleon.

Blue-eyed Anole: This lizard is wider and longer, and its tail is marked with dark stripes.

Blunt-headed Tree Snake: Ricky is delighted with our rare sighting of this snake. The reptile is light brown, with dark brown spots. Its long, slender body hangs off the edge of a large leaf and trails downward. We can't see how long it is, but we can see the Blunt-headed Tree Snake's meal: half of a Cloud Forest Anole is hanging from the snake's mouth, and the other half is already inside.

Lobster Cricket: This orange-brown insect is about two inches long, with very long antennae.

Dead-leaf Katydid: It's easy to hear the sound of Katydids in the cloud forest, but it takes sharp eyes to see the Dead-leaf Katydid. With its wings folded, this insect looks just like the other dead leaves on the plant it clings to. What wonderful camouflage!

Walkingstick: This insect looks like a twig or a stick, and grows up to six inches long in Monteverde.

Spittlebug Larvae: The nymphs, or young, live in a glob of white spittle. It looks like a big pile of spit, foamy and stuck together. The adult spittlebug eats the sap of plants.

Chrysalis: We see a white chrysalis hanging from the underside of a leaf, and wonder what kind of butterfly will emerge.

Hawk Moth: The Hawk Moth is an insect but flies more like a hummingbird than a typical moth - with darting, fast movements. Like all moths it is attracted to light. With our headlamps and flashlights, we see plenty of Hawk Moths.

Harvestman: This insect looks a lot like a spider, but has just six legs. We see a red Harvestman, or Daddy Long-legs, climbing quickly down a vine.

Wolf Spider: These spiders don't spin webs but catch their prey on the ground or on leaves.

Spiders: We see several other kinds of spiders. As we watch, one pounces on an insect that makes the mistake of wandering onto its web.

Snail-eating snail: This snail is carnivorous: it eats other snails. Its shell is orange-brown with dots of brownish-green and is about an inch across.

Snail: We spot a small ivory shell, with a black line running down the center, clinging to a vine.

Glow Worm: The Cloud Forest seems very dark when we turn off all of our lights, but then we spot the tiny light of the Glow Worm.

Emerald Toucanet: We find this beautiful bird sleeping in a tree. Its large yellow and black bill and distinctive head is tucked underneath its body, leaving just the bright green body feathers for us to see.

Purple-throated Mountain-Gem Hummingbird Nest: The small nest is made from moss and other forest debris and is held together with spider web silk. The bird wasn't home when we came to visit.

Fungi: A fungus on the dead leaves of the Secropia tree is bioluminescent, which means it shines in the dark. With our lights turned off we could see an eerie glow.