Went out with collaborators to set pitfall traps in the morning in the black cotton system. Dig a small hole, insert a small plastic cup, smooth ground so flush with top of cup. Fill with soapy water, and presto: cheap and effective trap to collect ground invertebrates. I am amazed at our field assistant’s ability to locate specific termite mounds in this endless homogenous environment.

Excited for game drive tonight, especially with the full moon out. See the majority of wildlife within 100m of the research station. See a giraffe immediately by the side of the road, and opposite, a hippo. Soon after, two big Cape buffaloes starting at us from behind a bush. Eeeee-rie. Every five or ten minutes there’s a huge herd of zebra; we had to stop to let them all pass across the road a few times. In one open area there’s probably fifty zebras milling around with the same amount of gazelles lying down in the grass. While turning back into the research station, we came screaming around a corner, and suddenly all you could see were giraffe legs – we slammed on the brakes and took it out! It took me a bit to grab my camera and the lighting is awful, but here she is:

When we walked to our bandas later that night, we saw it hanging out in front of them. I guess you could say I had a giraffe on my front lawn! :)