Well tonight was spent as usual- watching tv/movies with cammack, aubrey, and mika. Tonights moive was Crash- very good movie. The other highlight of the night was 2 typical texas things- 1st what do you do with milk so expired that its seperated into 2 distinct layers and the jug looks about to explode? Thats right you guessed it shoot it with a pellet gun. We stuck that puppy in the green area behind the house and i shot it. It was sort of a let down though since it didnt explode, it just slowly released the gases. Guess I needed a bigger gun although my pellet guns not to shabby at 1000 ft/second and a nice scope. The other thing was a midnight trip to Sonic. We were suppose to go to walmart also but got sidetracked with the sonic run. O well, we went yesterday night (actually early this morning) and well probabily go tomorrow. Who says insect nerds don't have fun?

Change in plans for this week, instead of leaving bcs today then going to nm then wtx on wensday Im staying here until thursday then leaving dallas for nm on saturday then going to wtx on the 4th or 5th. My hack partner is a falconer also so this should be good times. I'm probabily going to release Kos while im in wtx I wish I could keep her for another season, but its probabily for the best. She'll do fine im sure considering she believes anything that moves needs to die. Here are some pictures of her hunting and with a bunny she killed.

these two pictures are part of the valley of desolation mentioned previously. There were some cool rocks down in there which happened to find their way into my backpack. However when the export stuff happened we had to leave our rocks behind also. So my rocks are locked up in a cabinet down there and maybe the next group will bring them back. I also got some cool coral both recently dead and fossilized.

Me and cammack decided to take pictures of our boots while we were standing on top of this peak we had to climb over on the trail. I love my boots although this pair isnt as perfect as my last pair figures they would discontinue my favorite style. I figured out a new way to lace them though so while it take 5 minutes to lace they are now waterproof even when submerged. The last picture is what clem (bus driver/guide) calls the worlds largest wooden barrel. It pipes water to the hydroelectric plant where most of the islands power is generated. The pipe is made totally out of boards and is probabily 4-5 ft in diameter.

Getting ready to head to west TX by way of dallas and santa fe. 2 more days in college station before this happens though. I stole 4 malaise traps from woolley and a generator from oz so the insects arnt safe. Since getting back from dallas ive just been drawing pictures of neuroptera wings, watching movies (ive watched 5 movies in the last 3 days, more than in the last month), and finding new ways of harrassing woolley. Big news is Chris Dietrich, big leafhopper guy, will be in town for a couple days in july. Looks like ill be able to come and meet with him for a day or so.

These pictures are from the boiling lake. The 1st is the view from the trail and the 2nd one is the steam coming off of the lake. It was a 12 mile hike over ultra slick steps some of which were so tall you had to pull yourself up. The hike was crazy with some major elevation changes but really cool. There are a few spots where there are 1000 ft drops on both sides of the trail which is maybe 4 ft wide. One year woolley had just finished warning the class about it, turned around, and stepped off the edge. Luckily he grabbed onto some stuff on the way down and one of the guides pulled him out. Apparently the 1st thing he said after being put back on the trail was "I still have my bugs". I loved the valley of desolation. There are a bunch of vents and small pools of boiling water. Minerals make the water look grey in most parts, but some parts are jet black or yellowish. It was pretty neat looking. At the boiling lake we ate lunch and i collected some click beetles. They were the smallest elaterids i have seen maybe .5 inches long. While we were hanging around the lake the guide who saved woolley appeard with a couple other people. After an hour or so we all went back down the trail. Along the way we decided it would be sweet to collect in this area, cammack and i invision a 1000 pan grid in the valley along with lights. Maybe a malaise trap or 2 on the top of the peak you have to climb over although its so windy up there the trap would be torn to shreads pretty quick. The hike wasnt as bad as I thought it would be, i think i finally figured out how to walk on the slick log steps without falling or sliding around too much. Major plus

We took the aerial tram through the rainforest. The way up we were mid canopy or so and on the way back we were above the canopy. The trees were huge (shocking I know). Hopefully I'll be back sometime and get to do some collecting. There is this huge bridge that would be great to run lights on- it was about 300 ft in the are and probabily 300 ft long. Woolley wanted to cover me and Cammack in tanglefoot and lower us over the side. We caught some white Fulgoroids hand collecting on the way down to the midpoint. I think we were driving the guide crazy since she kept having to wait for us to catch up after chasing some bug around. There were some really cool wevils in the canopy but we weren't able to snag any. Maybe next time

well im back in the us of a. It was quite an adventure. We had to leave all the bugs in dominica due to a moritorium on exportation of biological specimens that was voted on last tuesday and went into effect on wensday- we applied for our permit on wensday. Typical. We found out on friday at 715, by 716 cammack and I had taken stock of all shampoo bottles on station and by 725 woolley had come and said no bugs were leaving the island without a permit. On monday Nancy was able to get the minister to allow a few of the bugs out for our vouchers so hopefully they make it to TAMU fine.

Since arriving back in tx on tuesday ive worked some, went to san antonio and austin with cammack to get by bird, return some stuff to rei and get woolley his early birthday present. We got him a leatherman since he lost his at middleham falls and wrapped it in a cladogram. Thursday I spent the day doing neurop drawings. It took me all morning to do this one asclaphid since Oz kept saying the juggal area was not supposed to be notched and rounded. Well just before lunch he looked it up and guess what it was notched and rounded. After dinner me cammack aubrey and mika got together and watched The Ringer and hung around. Discovered a new drink- chocolate syrup and peperment schnopps, tastes like york peperment patties. Friday I went to my first thesis defence- so far I agree with my friends mom who said that International Science Fair SRC commitee defences was more stressful than her phd thesis defence. Hopefully mine goes as well as kyras did. And Im unofficially taking 24 hours next semester since ill be sitting in on woolleys systematics class.

The upper picture is of emerald pool, where we went swimming. The next picture is looking out of the snakes mouth to the Atlantic Ocean. It was the only shade around and quite a nice spot to sit. The last picture is the ocean from Castle Bruce.

Day 11- we went to town so I could get my Ham Radio License. My Dominican call is J79HDR got to pick the last 3 letters figured may as well reduce confusion and stick with my old call. It was an adventure finding the place since there are no street signs in Roseau but we found it eventually. It had to be signed by the minister of communication so I got to go to the government building also to do that. Almost didnt get it that day since the woman who writes recipts was gone for the day, but they found someone else who could. Not much else exciting in town, went to the juice stand and had some mango juice. Good times for sure. Big news of the day was I caught a bat. It flew into the classroom after woolley and lacher went to bed so me, DAngela and Travis decided to catch it. It was a lot like grabbing a kestrel. Then i decided to pull paraistes off of it. Went downstairs to the wet lab where i almost ran into 2 guys with machine guns. After almost having a heart attack i realized it was just the guards so no big deal. Pulled off a bunch of streblids (bat flies) which are now hippoboscids along with a beetle larva that woolley has no clue of what it is. Definatly good times.
Day 12- we went to town for the morning. Cammack and I followed Woolley and Lacher around to the markets, bookstore, craft stores etc. There was all kinds of crazy fruits at the markets, a bunch of it i have no idea what it was. There was an open air meat market with slabs of meat and calliphorids (blow flys) everywhere. Made me hungry. For lunch we went to this small place I got a fish sandwich- really good and only 2.5 EC (like a buck). After this we went to the aerial tram where you rode a tram through the rainforest. It was quite cool. Saw a bunch of huge trees. There was a cool wevil, but we werent able to grab it before the tram passed it. We got new nicknames today- Me and Cammack are now TAC and JAC since thats what are collection event labels say.
Day 13- Church in the morning, got the bishops autograph for my collection. After that me cammack and woolley along with the marine group drove all over the island picking up malaise traps. We sat at rodneys rock for a couple hours while the marine group worked. Cammack and i invented a new game- hit the crab with a rock after bouncing the rock off of a big rock. I got the crab once cammack never did. Ha. I tried vitamalt its a popular drink down here. Woolley described it as Guenises without the alchohol. Well i tried a sip of his and i dont know what guenises hes been drinking but that vitamalt is the nastiest stuff ive ever tasted (well except for the time i accidently drunk a glass of nondairy creamer). So i went for passionfruit juice, some of the greatest stuff in the world.

day 8- we went to a bunch of different places. First stop was Castle Bruce Beach. I collected a bunch of bugs from the sea grapes. It was nice looking over the ocean. Then we went to the carrib village, sort of a reservation type deal. There is this cool lava flow that legend says was left by a snake that came and stayed with the carribs for a while. This goes down into the ocean but we couldn't go all the way down since the waves are crazy there and wash people away occassionally. Last stop was Emerald Pool. We set up a malaise trap here, got our permits checked (1st time anyones ever checked any of my permits for anything I do). Theres a small waterfall with a warm pool that we swam in for a while after setting up the trap. There was a small rock to jump off of so I did that, alot easier than the jump at middleham falls thats for sure. Once we got back Cammack and I took a nap on the ft. aggie couch we have claimed as our own. Apparently the rest of the class has decided he and I have to be within 15 ft of Woolley at all times and this is why we take a nap on his porch every afternoon. They also decided we were his robots he could send around to do his bidding and between 1600 and 1800 he turns us off for our daily nap since we instantly fall asleep and wake up at bascily the same time. They took pictures ill have to post them sometime.

Day 9- set up 2 malise traps- one ground and one aerial. Aerial traps are pretty cool theyve got a pvc frame and you hoist them into trees. Nifty little traps thats for sure. We went to town so I could pick up our FedEx package from the Ets. It was full of good stuff like genitila vials for my bugs and on a lighter note hippy begone spray to get the hippies to go away. I was suppose to get my radio liscense too, but we ran out of time. Its on the list for Friday now.

Day 10- We went to freshwater and boere lake. We ran pan traps along the trail near freshwater lake. Then we walked the trail to boere lake. The weather was perfect for collecting- sunny and warm with little moisture on the plants. Woolley said these conditions were very rare in the elfen forest (usually cold and wet). So he me and cammack collected a good chunk of the way up and got to the lake a while after everyone else. Ate lunch at Boere lake then started back down the trail. The weather was still perfect so we decided to sweep the entire way back. Cammack got ahead of us a few minutes into the hike and decided just to go back with the rest of the class. So I took the right side of the trail and woolley took the left and we swept the entire way back leapfrogging down the trail. Got tons of cool stuff. I need to get a net like hes got since its got a screen that helps keep out vegetaiton while sweeping so its easier to keep the bugs from getting lost in the net. The screen pops off so you can still dive inside to collect the bugs- a necessity for those of us that collect jumping insect and a source of constant amusement to the rest of the world that doesnt. The 2 of us got back to the van a good 30 min after the last of the people before us. We rounded up the pan traps (filled with stuff considering theyed only been out for 3 hours), then went back to the station.

just discovered the pictures from Cabrits didnt post. The first two are taken at the fort and the last one is the Atlantic ocean from one of the lookouts

day 5- we hiked to an abandoned fort then to a hilltop where you could see both the atlantic and carribean at the same time. It was pretty dang cool. We set up 2 malaise traps at this stop then went to syndicate- a national park with a huge parrot population. There are 2 species of endemic parrot on the island, i saw a bunch of the common species but none of the rarer species. None of them flew down and attacked me which with my track record with parrot attacks is pretty impressive. Me and Cammack got sent to put up 4 malaise traps while the rest of the class watched more parrots. The first 3 were beautiful set ups with great positioning and deployment. The last trap was set up in near dark with woolley yelling at us from the trail to hurry up. I guess when they got to the van and it got close to dark and we still wernt back yet woolley went back in after us. Cammack and I got the trap up for the most part but its by no means perfect. We met woolley on the trail who then took off running down the path after telling us good job. So we had a nice run out of the forest at dark, kinda exciting. The best part though was on the way Cammack saw a lamperid and since I had both nets I handed him one mid stride and he caught tbe bug without missing a step. Pretty impressive. So I learned 2 things today- 1 never leave without a flashlight even if you expect to be back before dark and 2 when setting up malaise traps always bring duct tape for patch jobs.

Day 6- Went to church today. It was basicly the same as Mass at home with a few minor wording changes. The rytheme of the responces was also a bit different. There were 8 baptisms and 57 confirmation preperation deals. Next week will be the 57 confirmations so the Bishop will be there. Hopefully another autograph for the bishop's autograph collection. There was a dove nesting on one of the eves in the church so all through the Mass this bird would fly in though a window, go to the nest feed the nestling and take off. Shed sometimes perch on the piping suspended from the ceiling. Kinda cool. We also got the lab set up back at Springfield, Cammack and I have already staked out a lab table and the 2 best scopes.

Day 7- Pretty much just hung around the station today helping people with their projects. One girl is working on Roaches so we needed a good bait. The 2 baits of choice are beer & bread or fruit. Beetle people like to use brown sugar and let it ferment also. So I suggested a combonation of the 3- beer, brown sugar, and fruit pieces. We convinced woolley to buy beer in town for the bait since we didnt want to use kabuli (the dominica beer of choice, sort of like a corona), so he said hed get some Gunises since roaches would like a nice flavorfull beer. Lacher wasnt into the idea at first but woolley convinced him so we got our bait mix. That night we had a guy from ROSTI- a sea turtle group that works to get locals involved with nesting sea turtles in hopes that once they see the animals egg and turtle poaching will decline. Its been really successful here on the island. Well thats all for now

Day 4- we hiked to Middleham falls. The hike was nice a bit tiring but the views were incredible. The falls are 300 ft high and we swam in the pool where it hits. Pretty much everyone jumped into the pool off of the rocks about 15 ft up. I finally worked up the courage and jumped off also. It was pretty fun would have been nicer if the water was a tad warmer. After swimming around for a bit longer we were all freezing cold so we got out and ate somemore lunch. One of the kids saw an eel swiming around in one of the other pools it was pretty far down so we didnt get a great look at it but it was still very cool. On the way back Cammack, D'Angela, Woolley, and I set up 4 malaise traps (bug collecting deals you leave up for a week or so) . There was a rainbow that was so bright you could see the entire spectrum clearly. We stopped and took a ton of pictures (one is above) and over time it actually got even brighter until it was basiclly a full rainbow.

Day 3- the other 1/2 of class went to town. I spent the first part of the day helping with projects then once people got back from town worked on me and cammack worked on the beat nets for a while. While they were gone a group of us watched monty pythons and the holy grail so that was good times. We also set up a malaise trap just to get one out so we could say we did something productive. Other than nothing really major happened, just getting use to the area. Heres a cool scarab that we caught up near mt. joy. It was about the size of a quarter, maybe a little bigger. Cammack caught a huge cerambycid- its black with yellow stripes. Murph got one the first day we were here and it bit woolley pretty good right after he said they bite. Definatlly funny.

Ready for somemore ramblings? Day 2 in dominica there was a trip to town. I got to go at the last minute (they were litteral about to drive away) so i had no money, no passport, no nothing. We went to the TrueValue and I was sent to go find some wood for one of the girls. Then we went to the bank so everyone else could exchange money. We ended up splitting into groups with me and Christine going with Woolley and everyone else going with Lacher to look for batteries. We wandered around the area watching the crane working on the harbor until the rest of the group showed up. Then we went to the drug store to get alchohol for the malaise traps. The store took forever but on the bright side I talked woolley into buying me a coke. All the cokes are in glass bottles so you have to drink them at the store. I got my coke just as the alcohohol was ready so i got to chug my coke in about a minute. Ive never drunk a coke so fast but that coke was damn good. We went to an internet cafe and played around on that for a while then went to the market to get some snacks and laundrey soap then back to the station. We took a tour of the station- climbed down to this huge fig tree. The roots were butressed and must have extended up to 10 ft or so. It was crazy. Then we went to the top of mt. Joy where the old field station was before it burnt down. We did some insect collecting up there then came back down for dinner. The picture is from the trail to the fig tree. On the way down the trail woolley had a revelation about the nonworking extension cord. Turns out they have a fuse in them thats probibily blown. We checked it and sure enough thats the issue. We found and replaced the fuse and got the lighttrap up and running. The true insect carnage can begin.

Forgot to put some pictures up. The first one is a picture of the island as we flew in. Its taken through a really dirt window so thats why its so foggy. The second one is a picture of the runaway we were about to land on. More later.

I finally have internet again. As long as i dont have access to it i dont really miss it but once its back up i havn't gotten off it. So where to begin- guess ill start at the begining. So my alarm went off at 515 and i stared blankly at it until cammack called me at 520. Couldnt figure out what was making the funny sounding noise. Mika picked me up about 545 and at 552 the 3 of us passed woolley (my major prof and the prof leading the trip) who was stopped at a stoplight. we decided we had to beat him to the airport so we sped off. In our excitment of beating him mika missed the exit to the airport so we had to go all the way up past 47 and circle back around. We got to the stop sign and as we were stopping we saw woolleys white truck so me and cammack told her to go for it- we ran the stopsign, cut him off and made it to the airport first. We were deprived our victory celebration though since we went to different loading and unloading levels. O well. We made it to dallas with only minor issues- mine and cammacks insect nets were considered dangerous weapons so we had to check them. If i wanted to kill off a flight crew a 50$ bioquip net would not be the weapon of choice. In dallas we got to our next gate, met up with maria so i could get my laptop and other toys she was bringing me. We flew into puerto rico and went to our hotel. The bus got stuck in a hole and we had to drag all our gear the last block or so. welcome to the carribean. We went out to dinner at a mexican resturant I had steak and onions with the local beer it was pretty dang good. Nice ordering a beer without worrying about stupid drinking laws. Anyways on the way back to the hotel we stopped at the ocean and played around in it for a while. The next day we flew from San Juan to Dominica. The plane was delayed because of a volcano eruption on Monserat- welcome to the carribiean round 2. This gave me time to deal with some falconry issues that were rapidly exploding. The flight down was uneventful until it was time to land. We had to circle for awhile so we got a nice tour of the island. The landing was everything my uncle joe had described- you land in a canyon you thing your going to die then maraculiously youre on the ground a couple hundred feet from the ocean. We went through immigration and customs then drove to the station. We got here, found out the internet had been down for 3 weeks and there was no set date for the part to arrive from the states. The part finally got here today and weve all been on the net ever since. Thats all for now, maybe ill put somemore up later tonight if not itll be tomorrow.

Well i made it vocano eruptions, bird issues, and all. more to come later when i really have internet. Good stories though inculuding cutting off woolley at a stop sign, getting our nets confinscated, and a fun landing in dominica.

T-6hrs, kinda scary, guess i should find my passport. Packing is about .5 done but the rest is gathered and sort of organized. I can't take my meds until 2am so whats the rush? The 3 stooges got the gear packed into duffles, we hit it right on the nose- no extra space and no left over boxes. An added bonus was no one died or was too seriously injured, always a plus. After that was a trip to Walmart then Cammacks then back to walmart this time with all of cammacks housemates. Kinda scary when we go to walmart and the checker from last week recognizes us and askes about mika since she was missing this trip. Well back to packing i guess.

Hopefully i've just had my ER visit for the trip. Nice to get it out of the way before leaving. I got bit by my grandparents dog (ugliest most annoying dog ive ever met) a few years ago and the scar started bubbling a few days ago. This morning a chunk of it came off and I had a pocket deep enough to stick a #3 insect pin into about .5in before hitting flesh. Figured if im going to the tropics thats probabily not a good idea- can you say absecess waiting to happen and my ento bff made me go see a doctor. So now im on some hardcore antibiotics, but the good news is theres apperntly no interaction with alcohol, definatly a good thing. Thats all for now, T-30hrs

T-40 hrs. Guess its time to start packing. Yesterday we loaded up all the gear and took it to the other heep so it can go into the duffle bags. I got to steal a university business permit, which is always exciting. Get to park basicly anywhere. Other than that just trying to figure out what i need to take and waiting for woolley to call with the game plan. Oh and the preakness is at 5:15 so Ill watch it with my ento BFF, I love horse racing. Knowing my luck thats when Woolley will call.