Day 13 – Monday 6th July – Wet, Wet, Wet!
Overnight the rain from the previous day had persisted, and although it had now stopped the grass and ground was really wet. It was also really cold. Sandra’s thermometer recorded a temperature of 8°C. The morning dew of the previous week had had little effect on my boots, but the sodden ground had my feet and legs soaked to the skin within minutes. The cloud cover took a few hours to burn off, and by that time the Macaques were on the move. They were leaving the “Amphitheatre”. They had done this once before, but I hadn’t caught it on film last time. It’s quite impressive. The amphitheatre is an isolated part of the home range, and to get to the rest of their territory, the macaques have to cross an open tract of land in front of the quarry. They feel uncomfortable in open spaces without the safety of trees, and so they group together, and sprint across the quarry entrance to the safety of the trees on the other side. I managed to film this, and hopefully it will make it into the documentary.
Soggy Trousers!
I also managed to film some of the juveniles enjoying themselves in the puddles splashing around. At first they were content with splashing, but this soon escalated into chasing each other excitedly, and ended with one of the juveniles, Dakota, being thrown – judo style – into the muddy puddle. She looked bedraggled. It didn’t help that it had clouded over again by this point, and within an hour it had started to tip it down. Sandra called me over to see something interesting. It was a rather large lizard that one of the juveniles had run away from. It had been caught in the downpour and cooled down to a point that it was unable to move. I decided to warm it up and release it, but not before assigning it a position as camera operator!
Playing in the Puddle
My new camera operator - A rather chilly lizzard
In the evening I did a bit of LnT while cooking myself some Moroccan style dhal. I’d forgotten how “gasseuse” lentils can make you!