Let's start with our series about Fieldwork stories. Fieldwork can be tough, but always bring us some interesting stories to tell. Here we go with our first one!
JAGUAR RUN
Text by Juliana Teixeira
It was a very hot and sunny day and our last day of sampling plant community at the Chapada dos Guimarães National Park. Usually in such hot day (above 40°C) to sample vegetation requires 70% more concentration from all team members. Another interesting thing: it is normal to ask more than once to someone of the team to repeat what they are saying. Sometimes, too much sun can create new voices and sounds.
On that day, we heard a strange sound coming from a shrub near us. We stopped for one minute and the sound stopped with us. When we came back to work, the sound started once again and was getting louder. Since our first day of fieldwork at the Chapada dos Guimarães, we were aware of the presence of big wild Jaguars in that region. When the strange sound was louder, we thought that the Jaguar was around. We took the field supplies we had at that moment (4 plastic tubes, a clipping scissor, and a probe) and we started to make strange noises pretending we were a bigger and more ferocious wild mammal. All our effort wasn’t enough, and the strange sound was getting closer than it was. We stopped for mile seconds and we started to walk so fast to the opposite direction where we could find a road.
We were scared and at the final steps, we ran to the road. We were shaking, and we called the Park employees to save us from the Jaguar. After some minutes they came with all the supplies necessary to protected us from the Jaguar during our work. With guns, knives, and very quietly we came back to the field site to finish our sampling. After five minutes of walking, we saw the big Jaguar. But it was not a Jaguar but a very friendly mammal. The Tapir was curious to see our colorful backpack and to smell our lunch boxes. The park employees laughed and since that day we were called the "Tapira researches".
Here, they are with the people who helped them during all field excursions. The team was composed of the ICMBio volunteers, ICMBio fireman, Park administration crew, and Juliana Teixeira and Mariana Dairel, the "Tapira researcher".
See you all in our next "Fieldwork stories" chapter!
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