Day 5 (June 01, 2008)--------------------------Storm / cloudy

Before daybreak, there was a severe storm. It put another challenge on the four cameras we have so far deployed.

Today three of us (Laoji, Xiao Yang, and I) went to Longjiaping to mount the last (fifth) camera. It is located at N27-59-03.9, E108-45-26.0, and the elevation is 1726 m (asl). This time my primary purpose is to test the camera trapping method, especially the reliability or vulnerability of my cameras under various conditions. So I purposefully chose to deploy the cameras in areas that are most likely inhabited by golden monkeys.

Our food at the camp includes rice, noodles, bacon, and some wild vegetables. Regular vegetables are rare because of the difficulty in transportation: Porters (Photo 13) have to carry them all the way up from the village Lengjiaba (Photo 14) at the foot of the mountain. It takes about four hours for us visitors. In addition, the villagers do not grow many vegetables such as tomatoes and onions. Laoji went down the hill to his home to plant rice seedlings. Reading Manson's complexity review paper after dinner.

                             

Photo 13:  Porters carrying materials for visiting researchers             Photo 14: The village of Lengjiaba

Day 6 (June 02, 2008)--------------------------Sunny / overcast

We went out to check the three cameras that are near Yangaoping; the other two are at Mianxuling and Heixiangzi (see Day 2). They all surrived the storm(s) and wet weather, and the batteries (Nanfu or Sanwu alkaline D cell batteris) can last a long time--99% of the power is left after a few days. No monkeys were photographed.

I called my wife at San Diego and said hi to her. She is always concerned about my fieldwork. She is packing the seemingly endless items in our home. We plan to move to our newly-bought house shortly after our expected return from China (she will go to China in just a couple of days). Oh by the way, my cell phone works better this year at Yangaoping than last year. I can use it most of the time if I walk away from the camp about 10-20 meters.

Day 7 (June 03, 2008)--------------------------Sunny / overcast

Laocai went to Niujiaodong before breakfast. He would like to buy some chickens and ducks for our meals. We went out to check the three cameras near Yangaoping. Though still no monkeys have been captured, I am pretty happy that the cameras work well in the forests: When it is bright (e.g., daytime with good sunshine), color photos are taken; when it is dark (at night or shadowy places), black and white photos are taken. The batteries seem to be able to last a long time.

I called the team at Mianxuling Guest House, and found that the two cameras are safe, no thefts or vandalisms from local people or tourists.

Day 8 (June 04, 2008)--------------------------Sunny / overcast

In the morning I worked on the NSF proposal. Near 2 pm Xiao Nie, Xiao Yang, Laoji, and I went out to check the two cameras that had been mounted in the direction of Jinding. The cameras have not captured anyting interesting except several with only trees (probably due to birds or insects rapidly passing by). Fortunately, we saw a large group of monkeys (over 100 animals?) passing by, crowing, breaking tree twigs or branches, or standing on trees (Photos 15-17). This lasted for about one hour.

           

Photos 15-17:  Monkeys photographed from a distance of 30-50 m on Day 8 when we were returning.   

I paid Laocai for his work because he will continue to stay here with Xiao Nie. As we will go down to Lengjiaba and return to Jiangkou tomorrow, we decided to check the camera at Longjiaping (the last one mounted on Day 5). Wow! two monkeys were captured in the photos (Photos 18-19)! I am so joyful! This gives evidence that my method is great with good efficiency and feasibility. Because I did not bring my laptop to download the photos from the SD card, I took the card to the camp.

                                         

Photo 18: The FIRST monkey captured (top-left corner)               Photo 19: The second monkey captured in my camera (near top right)

Day 9 (June 05, 2008)--------------------------Sunny / overcast

Laoji and I went back to Longjiaping and put back the SD card into the camera. Later I called Director Yang and Mr. Lei for picking up us from Lengjiaba. Director Yang suggested we meet at the Rescue Center where Vanessa stays for her monkey behavior study. We stayed at Laocai's younger sister's home for lunch, and Mr. Lei arrived near 2:40 pm. It was a long journey again, taking a total of 9 hours. There was an car accident, and the road was closed for about two hours. We, unable to go to the Rescue Center, will stay at Jiangkou and go to the Rescue Center tomorrow.