We have been working on analyzing our data gathered from our observations at the zoo. It has been a bit troublesome for us because we seem to be behind everyone in this area. It seems as though we are expected to know quite a lot about this already, but unfortunately we have never had a class on it. The professors actually seem to be a little annoyed when you ask for extra help. I think we will be fine though.
Our observations went fine until the last day, when a dominant female took the infant for nearly the entire day, so we are hoping this will not become habitual. It would be nice if we could stop by and check on the apes before we leave, but I doubt the zoo will let us do that, and it is not worth 17 euros to us just to pop in.
We had a seminar on Friday at a company called Noldus where they make and distribute technologies used to enhance behavior studies. It was interesting to see what products are being developed, and after trying to use pencil and paper for everything, I can see how digitalizing things would make recording easier. Sam said that she uses a computer always when she does her behavior work at Shedd.
We had some unfortunate excitement this week in town. One of the student dorms was struck by lightening and caught fire because the gas tanks on the roof exploded. They made an announcement in our class about it, and one poor girl told us she lived near the top floor and left to go see if everything was okay. I can tell my family is paying attention to any news from here though, because not half a day later I was getting messages from them asking if I was okay. The explosion was pretty big, and we could see black smoke from across town, but when we passed it yesterday, there didn't seem to be that much damage to the building, so that is a good sign. Here is a link to a picture someone took of it.
http://rijnsteeg.bit.nl/hoevestein/img_1946.jpg
Yesterday we made a day trip to a national park in the area called De Hoge Veluwe. I thought it was wonderful. They have a lot of land, including grasslands, forests, and sand dunes. Also they have several wildlife preserves and a phenomenal art museum and sculpture garden. It would have been a bit nicer if the rain had held off, but other than that, I would highly recommend this park. They even have bicycles for everyone that you just take whereever you want and then leave for someone else to use when you get to your destination.
Today I will be working on some class work so that we don't have to worry about it in the next couple days. We already present our final reports on Wednesday. This trip is really flying by for me.
Sunday, June 24, 2007
Saturday, June 23, 2007
Jess-Viborg
Yesterday I had the unique opportunity to travel to some local farms with a Veterinarian from Orum. Torben, graduated from the Danish vet school located in Copenhagen about ten years ago. Since then he has been a veterarian at an ever growing clinic along with two other doctors.
I was able to make the contact with Torben through Peter and Helle. They were both nice enough to offer to help me on my task to finding some veterinary work before I leave here. I was very curious to learn how vet med compares between the two countries.
To my suprise veterinary medicine here is a lot different that veterinary medicine at home...and almost exactly the same at the same time. What I learned yesterday is that here in Denmark all forms of antibiotic and medical treatment on any animal are only jobs for veterinarians. For example, in the United States if a beef producer sees that he has a cow that is starting to have a small mastitis problem, he can strip her udder really good, clean her up, give her a shot of Penicillin and be on his way. That would not happen in Denmark! Everything here is regulated. No antibiotics can be purchased by a farmer at a Farm and Home or Big R store. A veterinarian has to supply, and in some cases, actually inject the antibiotics.
Torben showed me the paper work that is necessary every single time he visits a farm. He has to write down each cow's given number (this number has to be in every cow's ear, or else the farmer is breaking the law), he has to write down what he did the for the cow, what he gave her, how much he gave her, the date, time, his clinic information, the farmer's information, what he left the farmer to continue treating the cow, how long the cow can receive that medicine, how much she can be given each day, when her milk can be sold again, and when she can go to slaughter. And, on top of all of that, at the bottom of each of the tickets with all of this information, there are stickers with numbers on them that match up to the ticket number. Any medication that is left at the farm must have one of these stickers on it with the number that matches up to the receipt! Then, all of the information must be kept on file for a minimum of five years by both the veterinarian and the producer. The veterinarian is then responsible for reporting all of the information from each farm into a national database so that the government always has a running record of what is going on at each farm!!
Beyond these tasks, veterinary medicine here is exactly the same as home. Here though there area lot more dairy farms to visit than beef farms!
I was able to make the contact with Torben through Peter and Helle. They were both nice enough to offer to help me on my task to finding some veterinary work before I leave here. I was very curious to learn how vet med compares between the two countries.
To my suprise veterinary medicine here is a lot different that veterinary medicine at home...and almost exactly the same at the same time. What I learned yesterday is that here in Denmark all forms of antibiotic and medical treatment on any animal are only jobs for veterinarians. For example, in the United States if a beef producer sees that he has a cow that is starting to have a small mastitis problem, he can strip her udder really good, clean her up, give her a shot of Penicillin and be on his way. That would not happen in Denmark! Everything here is regulated. No antibiotics can be purchased by a farmer at a Farm and Home or Big R store. A veterinarian has to supply, and in some cases, actually inject the antibiotics.
Torben showed me the paper work that is necessary every single time he visits a farm. He has to write down each cow's given number (this number has to be in every cow's ear, or else the farmer is breaking the law), he has to write down what he did the for the cow, what he gave her, how much he gave her, the date, time, his clinic information, the farmer's information, what he left the farmer to continue treating the cow, how long the cow can receive that medicine, how much she can be given each day, when her milk can be sold again, and when she can go to slaughter. And, on top of all of that, at the bottom of each of the tickets with all of this information, there are stickers with numbers on them that match up to the ticket number. Any medication that is left at the farm must have one of these stickers on it with the number that matches up to the receipt! Then, all of the information must be kept on file for a minimum of five years by both the veterinarian and the producer. The veterinarian is then responsible for reporting all of the information from each farm into a national database so that the government always has a running record of what is going on at each farm!!
Beyond these tasks, veterinary medicine here is exactly the same as home. Here though there area lot more dairy farms to visit than beef farms!
Thursday, June 21, 2007
Jess-Viborg
Work is still going great here! We drew blood from three pigs today, which made the day fly goodbye! At some times during the day we have only fifteen minutes in between times for drawing blood. This may seem like a lot, but when you have to measure glucose, hematocrit, spin down the blood in a centrifuge and pipette plasma into appropriate tubes for analysis, fifteen minutes can seem like two!
I am beginning to learn more and more about the scientific community here and in the United States from the people here and I will have to admit that it is something that I could not rule out as a potential life long career. I do not know that I could give up vet school for a research job, but I might be able to combine the two and find a happy medium. After vet school is completed of course!
We are planning to travel to Copenhagen and Germany during out last week here! I cannot believe that we only have two more weeks of work left! Time has really gone fast as Alanna said. But, before we take off to another big city, I am checking out the world news...just so that I am aware.
I watched a video on MSNBC that was about Iraqis fleeing their country to seek asylum in Sweden. I found this very interesting because the video explained that the country of Sweden has always opened its door to refugees and tried to help them. Sweden offers a place to stay, a daily stipend, and language classes while families get their feet under them again. I think that is wonderful, but I am feeling a little bit unsure about where the future of the world as we know it is going.
The next article that I saw under the title for Iraqis fleeing to Sweden was an article about how hard it is to get into the United States. I found this very contradictory. I was always under the impression that the United States was the free land that welcomed people of all races. But, now all of the sudden we have closed our doors to those who we are inflicting problems on.
The story about Iraqi refugees featured a family who had to leave their country because their son and father were working for the United States military as construction workers. The family received threats of beheading because of their association with the United States.
Last Friday when we traveled to Skagen, we met a man who is studying at Foulum who is from Iran. The tour group was walking to the beautiful northern tip of Jutland on a gorgeous, white beach, when this man came over to me and introduced himself. Of course I introduced myself and asked him where he is from. He jovially replied, "Iran, the country that is giving ‘The Bush’ all of the problems." Immediately I felt terrible. I know the war is a very heated topic, but if you just step back and think about what it must be doing to all of the innocent people who had generations of happy, healthy, wonderful families that were established there, it is a terrible thing. I have always struggled with the concept of war, but now I have a face to place with the concept.
The man told me later in the day that he originally wished to complete his PhD in the Food Science Department at the University of Illinois, but he was not granted a Visa in order to do so because he was from Iran. Once again, I did not know what to say to this man. How do I explain to him the raw feelings in the U.S. about the Middle East? How do I tell him that some people in the U.S. fear the people who are trying to flee his country for their own safety, when my country is the one disrupting it?
Until this evening when I really started thinking about this issue, I always took the stand point that the United States is denying people Visas in order to protect us. I understand that there are very dangerous people who would like to cause more pain and suffering in the United States, but I wish that there was a better way to decide who is allowed to come to the U.S. and who is not!
I am glad that I came here if only so that I could make this realization. I am very proud of my country and my friends and family who have served and are still serving in the military, but I am beginning to think more as a neutral person who does not really belong to one country or another...and it is really making me think.
I guess this is just some "food for thought" but I know that I will not forget the man from Iran, or the family from Iraq.
I am beginning to learn more and more about the scientific community here and in the United States from the people here and I will have to admit that it is something that I could not rule out as a potential life long career. I do not know that I could give up vet school for a research job, but I might be able to combine the two and find a happy medium. After vet school is completed of course!
We are planning to travel to Copenhagen and Germany during out last week here! I cannot believe that we only have two more weeks of work left! Time has really gone fast as Alanna said. But, before we take off to another big city, I am checking out the world news...just so that I am aware.
I watched a video on MSNBC that was about Iraqis fleeing their country to seek asylum in Sweden. I found this very interesting because the video explained that the country of Sweden has always opened its door to refugees and tried to help them. Sweden offers a place to stay, a daily stipend, and language classes while families get their feet under them again. I think that is wonderful, but I am feeling a little bit unsure about where the future of the world as we know it is going.
The next article that I saw under the title for Iraqis fleeing to Sweden was an article about how hard it is to get into the United States. I found this very contradictory. I was always under the impression that the United States was the free land that welcomed people of all races. But, now all of the sudden we have closed our doors to those who we are inflicting problems on.
The story about Iraqi refugees featured a family who had to leave their country because their son and father were working for the United States military as construction workers. The family received threats of beheading because of their association with the United States.
Last Friday when we traveled to Skagen, we met a man who is studying at Foulum who is from Iran. The tour group was walking to the beautiful northern tip of Jutland on a gorgeous, white beach, when this man came over to me and introduced himself. Of course I introduced myself and asked him where he is from. He jovially replied, "Iran, the country that is giving ‘The Bush’ all of the problems." Immediately I felt terrible. I know the war is a very heated topic, but if you just step back and think about what it must be doing to all of the innocent people who had generations of happy, healthy, wonderful families that were established there, it is a terrible thing. I have always struggled with the concept of war, but now I have a face to place with the concept.
The man told me later in the day that he originally wished to complete his PhD in the Food Science Department at the University of Illinois, but he was not granted a Visa in order to do so because he was from Iran. Once again, I did not know what to say to this man. How do I explain to him the raw feelings in the U.S. about the Middle East? How do I tell him that some people in the U.S. fear the people who are trying to flee his country for their own safety, when my country is the one disrupting it?
Until this evening when I really started thinking about this issue, I always took the stand point that the United States is denying people Visas in order to protect us. I understand that there are very dangerous people who would like to cause more pain and suffering in the United States, but I wish that there was a better way to decide who is allowed to come to the U.S. and who is not!
I am glad that I came here if only so that I could make this realization. I am very proud of my country and my friends and family who have served and are still serving in the military, but I am beginning to think more as a neutral person who does not really belong to one country or another...and it is really making me think.
I guess this is just some "food for thought" but I know that I will not forget the man from Iran, or the family from Iraq.
Viborg Week 5 Alanna
I can't believe we have been here for a month already. It seems like the more work you have the faster the time flies. After a long week of analyzing and preparing data for our project I can finally sit down and look at it all. In all honesty, this week has been one of the most stressful weeks here. I had to pick up lab skills quickly and prepare myself for sorting out all the data I gathered.
One of the things that is very frustrating about this research is the program SAS. SAS is a statistical program that allows you to enter in data and create graphs and sets using a series of commands. This program uses similar programing styles to that of DOS. I wish I had learned this program before coming here because I realized it's an essential program in our project. When I told Jens I had never used SAS before he looked shocked. Gladly I knew what the program was and its purpose from working with graduate students at school. It takes years to master this program so you must realize how I felt just learning the basics. We have 14 different parameters that we tested on 72 different dairy cows. That amounts to alot of data and alot of time spent graphing results.
Jens and I recently attended a meeting with one of the statisticians here at Foulum to see if we could improve our data and back up our research. I must say, that was one of the hardest meetings to sit through. Although I understood the basics such as normal curves, t-testing, variables, and standard deviations, I could not grasp the concepts of more complex topics. I think this is normal seeing as that I haven't had too much statistics, but it is a bit discouraging. Although all these things have been tough to over come, everyone here has been really great at teaching me the basics.
The one thing that stands out this week for me is realizing science is never as straight forward as one might think. You have to consider all the variables before starting and ending your experiment. When we first started analyzing blood samples I thought it was pretty straight forward. Pipette the plasma, put it in ADVIA (the analyzer), graph it, and there you go...results. Oh no, that's not how it works. There is the "plasma matrix" (all the stuff in the plasma that can effect the sample), the different feeds, time, date, temperature and all sorts of other variables that make it difficult to just read a graph and analyze it. Standard curves have to be placed on all samples in order to ensure its accuracy. I am learning so much about biological statistics and it seems to be making sense. Let's hope I can keep up with the world of biochemistry and statistics as the weeks comes to an end.
One of the things that is very frustrating about this research is the program SAS. SAS is a statistical program that allows you to enter in data and create graphs and sets using a series of commands. This program uses similar programing styles to that of DOS. I wish I had learned this program before coming here because I realized it's an essential program in our project. When I told Jens I had never used SAS before he looked shocked. Gladly I knew what the program was and its purpose from working with graduate students at school. It takes years to master this program so you must realize how I felt just learning the basics. We have 14 different parameters that we tested on 72 different dairy cows. That amounts to alot of data and alot of time spent graphing results.
Jens and I recently attended a meeting with one of the statisticians here at Foulum to see if we could improve our data and back up our research. I must say, that was one of the hardest meetings to sit through. Although I understood the basics such as normal curves, t-testing, variables, and standard deviations, I could not grasp the concepts of more complex topics. I think this is normal seeing as that I haven't had too much statistics, but it is a bit discouraging. Although all these things have been tough to over come, everyone here has been really great at teaching me the basics.
The one thing that stands out this week for me is realizing science is never as straight forward as one might think. You have to consider all the variables before starting and ending your experiment. When we first started analyzing blood samples I thought it was pretty straight forward. Pipette the plasma, put it in ADVIA (the analyzer), graph it, and there you go...results. Oh no, that's not how it works. There is the "plasma matrix" (all the stuff in the plasma that can effect the sample), the different feeds, time, date, temperature and all sorts of other variables that make it difficult to just read a graph and analyze it. Standard curves have to be placed on all samples in order to ensure its accuracy. I am learning so much about biological statistics and it seems to be making sense. Let's hope I can keep up with the world of biochemistry and statistics as the weeks comes to an end.
Wednesday, June 20, 2007
Wageningen Day 30-36 Allison
So, we have been here over a month now, and I am a little sad to see it go by so fast. We just finished our observations of the apes today. We have really been having up and down weather, but luckily it has been fairly nice the last two days.
Our infant survived, and is back under the close watch of the zookeepers. We were very pleased with what we were seeing, up until today. The mother had been keeping the baby with her most of the time, which allowed the baby to get enough to eat and be able to sleep some. However, today a higher ranking female in the troop decided that she wanted the baby, and kept her for nearly the whole day. When we were finishing up, we were relieved to see the mom with the baby until the same female tried to take her back again. We are now worried that this may become a problem because the mother feels that she cannot take the baby back because she is lower in rank.
It was amazing to be able to watch the baby grow up for even just a short time because she developed so much. She has started trying to imitate the adults in eating and communicating, and she has been roaming around and exploring more on her own. We even saw her ride on a male's back today. They are so much like humans sometimes, and it we really got to know each personality. We have even been concerned lately with the health of a couple animals because they both had unusual injuries. I think that we have almost been a help to the keepers, notifying them when there is a problem. It seems that this zoo has a very "let them be" attitude though, and a lot of the care is just monitoring. I thought it odd that they did not know the pregnancy status of this particularly fat monkey, but they just explained to me that it would be stressful to the animals to be handled.
I think we could recognize the animals as well as the zookeepers can. I will miss them now that we have gotten to know them, and I will be curious about the fate of the infant for a long time.
We begin analyzing our data starting tomorrow and then we will go back into the labs again after the class is over. I enjoyed that we are able to see so many different things while we are here, and I think it will allow for a good perspective at the end in 199.
Other than that, we have been having fun chatting with our classmates, posing for our professors camera (they make a DVD at the end for the whole class), and relaxing with our neighbors. This is a quiet little town, but I feel like we have been having a good time with it.
Our infant survived, and is back under the close watch of the zookeepers. We were very pleased with what we were seeing, up until today. The mother had been keeping the baby with her most of the time, which allowed the baby to get enough to eat and be able to sleep some. However, today a higher ranking female in the troop decided that she wanted the baby, and kept her for nearly the whole day. When we were finishing up, we were relieved to see the mom with the baby until the same female tried to take her back again. We are now worried that this may become a problem because the mother feels that she cannot take the baby back because she is lower in rank.
It was amazing to be able to watch the baby grow up for even just a short time because she developed so much. She has started trying to imitate the adults in eating and communicating, and she has been roaming around and exploring more on her own. We even saw her ride on a male's back today. They are so much like humans sometimes, and it we really got to know each personality. We have even been concerned lately with the health of a couple animals because they both had unusual injuries. I think that we have almost been a help to the keepers, notifying them when there is a problem. It seems that this zoo has a very "let them be" attitude though, and a lot of the care is just monitoring. I thought it odd that they did not know the pregnancy status of this particularly fat monkey, but they just explained to me that it would be stressful to the animals to be handled.
I think we could recognize the animals as well as the zookeepers can. I will miss them now that we have gotten to know them, and I will be curious about the fate of the infant for a long time.
We begin analyzing our data starting tomorrow and then we will go back into the labs again after the class is over. I enjoyed that we are able to see so many different things while we are here, and I think it will allow for a good perspective at the end in 199.
Other than that, we have been having fun chatting with our classmates, posing for our professors camera (they make a DVD at the end for the whole class), and relaxing with our neighbors. This is a quiet little town, but I feel like we have been having a good time with it.
Monday, June 18, 2007
Jess-Viborg-Week 5
Today was an interesting day at work, but not because there was a lot to do. I had a good day to sit back and reflect on the last few weeks here and some of the conversations that I have been able to share with many different people.
Sometime last week I had a conversion with Peter about the work force here in Denmark. He informed me that the unemployment rate in Denmark is extremely high and that many people simply do not want to work. This same subject was brought to my attention again only a few days later when I spoke to a dairy farmer.
From what I understand, Polish people are willing to move to Denmark and seek employment doing jobs that the Danish people would rather not do. Polish people are supposed to be paid the same amount of money as the Danish people, but that is not always the case.
I find this very interesting because it seems to me that it almost mirrors what is happening in the United States. Many Hispanic people move to the United States and do jobs that Americans choose not to do. For example, jobs working with livestock are often filled by those who are not from the United States. The same is true in Denmark. The people who are uprooting their families and moving to Denmark or the United States are taking on jobs that have to do with agriculture.
So my question is, why do I hear from farmers, both in the U.S. and Denmark, that they have the greatest jobs in the world...but nobody wants to work for them? Is it the way society views farmers? Is it the way farm work is portrayed? Or are farmers just so cheap (or rather so poor) that they cannot offer salaries, vacation time, health insurance, and other benefits that maybe another employer can?
I want to know how people view farm work. I know that it is extremely hard work, you never have a week or even sometimes a day to take off. I know that the work is often dirty, very dangerous, and time consuming. But, I know that I have loved growing up on a farm. My parents love what they do and the farmers that I have spoken to here also love what they do.
I am wondering if the idea that farming is the greatest job in the world is simply because it is "in the eye of the beholder". If someone had asked me as a freshman or sophomore in high school if I loved living on a farm, I would have laughed at them and asked for them to tell me a specific task on the farm. I would then answer accordingly. There are really good days and really, really, bad days, but as a whole I think that farming is one of the greatest professions in the world. So, in that case, I get back to my original question as to why no one wants to work on a farm?
I think this is a question that could come back to haunt our country as well as other countries around the world, because if there are no farmers to make the world food, there will be no food in the world.
Sometime last week I had a conversion with Peter about the work force here in Denmark. He informed me that the unemployment rate in Denmark is extremely high and that many people simply do not want to work. This same subject was brought to my attention again only a few days later when I spoke to a dairy farmer.
From what I understand, Polish people are willing to move to Denmark and seek employment doing jobs that the Danish people would rather not do. Polish people are supposed to be paid the same amount of money as the Danish people, but that is not always the case.
I find this very interesting because it seems to me that it almost mirrors what is happening in the United States. Many Hispanic people move to the United States and do jobs that Americans choose not to do. For example, jobs working with livestock are often filled by those who are not from the United States. The same is true in Denmark. The people who are uprooting their families and moving to Denmark or the United States are taking on jobs that have to do with agriculture.
So my question is, why do I hear from farmers, both in the U.S. and Denmark, that they have the greatest jobs in the world...but nobody wants to work for them? Is it the way society views farmers? Is it the way farm work is portrayed? Or are farmers just so cheap (or rather so poor) that they cannot offer salaries, vacation time, health insurance, and other benefits that maybe another employer can?
I want to know how people view farm work. I know that it is extremely hard work, you never have a week or even sometimes a day to take off. I know that the work is often dirty, very dangerous, and time consuming. But, I know that I have loved growing up on a farm. My parents love what they do and the farmers that I have spoken to here also love what they do.
I am wondering if the idea that farming is the greatest job in the world is simply because it is "in the eye of the beholder". If someone had asked me as a freshman or sophomore in high school if I loved living on a farm, I would have laughed at them and asked for them to tell me a specific task on the farm. I would then answer accordingly. There are really good days and really, really, bad days, but as a whole I think that farming is one of the greatest professions in the world. So, in that case, I get back to my original question as to why no one wants to work on a farm?
I think this is a question that could come back to haunt our country as well as other countries around the world, because if there are no farmers to make the world food, there will be no food in the world.
Sunday, June 17, 2007
Wageningen Week 5 Sam
Things here in Wageningen have been going very well. After finishing with the second week of the Animal Behaviour and Environment course, I have discovered a lot over the two week span. We presented the research material that we had been preparing over a week period of time in front of the class and then there was a short discussion immediately following. I really tried to speak slowly through my presentation, however it still was not slow enough, so that is something I will need to work harder on for the next time around with our final presentation. The critique mainly came from the professor and teacher of the course, concerning topics that we had been unable to find exact research on at that point. After a week of research, we learned that there was an infant Barbary macaque that the zoo requested we specifically observe. Therefore, we unfortunately discovered there was not much background research information available on the young concerning this exact species of monkey. Yet, in meetings the following day with our group (which consists of about 5 other pairs of students), our supervisor, the teacher and professor, we talked through any misunderstandings that arose the day before within our presentation. After only receiving positive feedback to this point, we finally received critique on this Wednesday, which is what we had been looking for, yet not to come the day before we began observing. We worked with the professor and teacher separately, only to discover they each had suggestions of different sampling methods, therefore we ultimately attempted to compromise between the two. We made everything work and it was one of the first days that we had to stay a bit longer than we usually have needed to, to make appropriate changes.
An advantage that we have noticed we have over the other students in the class, is that English is our first language, we think in English, we speak it, we write it. We have found that many students need much more time to write out the reports and presentations, as they have told us they sit there and talk about how to write it correctly in English. They speak much slower and use simple language, understandably so. We discovered exactly what they meant when we had to complete peer reviews of their background research introductions. The English in the paper I was reviewing was very poor and Allison and I barely knew where to begin, because we were unsure of how far we were supposed to critique. We were told to watch for sentence structure, not just content and becoming so brain washed and trained over the years caused this review to be much harder for us than intended.
However, our observations at the zoo have been great! We finally met the zoo keeper for our monkeys on Thursday morning before we began observing and she helped us to identify almost all 10 monkeys of the troop. We can finally pair names with key features and people probably think that we are crazy as they walk by and hear us speaking to the monkeys using their names. We are primarily interested in the infant who was born on May 16 and who she (we think it's a girl, as does the zoo) spends the most time with. So far we have found that there are 2 older males in the troop that spend a decent amount of time with her, her young mother spends the most and then there was quite a bit of drama in the troop Thursday when the youngest, very interested female of the troop stole the infant for over an hour. This was very nerve racking for us because she is very inexperienced, she has never had a young of her own and she was running around the habitat carrying our screaming subject by the neck. This went on for the longest time, zoo keepers kept coming by debating whether to get their manager, however there was not much to be done, as the zoo barely ever handles these monkeys. The head keeper came by later after the mom had her baby back finally and to our surprise we learned that this very female, named Kim, was the monkey who killed the infant that was born earlier this year, because she took it from the mother for too long. So now, you can only imagine how nervous we get any time Kim gets near our baby, as we feel the pressure is slightly resting on our shoulders for this infant to survive at least while it's under our watch. The funny part about it all however, is that from the start, Kim was our favorite monkey. She is the most energetic monkey in the troop because she is so young and she is definitely an instigator. Therefore, she's absolutely hilarious to watch, except when she goes after our baby. She is always near the mom and baby, or male + baby, trying to help groom or cuddle, which we thought was beyond adorable until she made her get-away when one of the males let the baby wander within a foot of him during their lunch. Friday's observation was much calmer, we were more familiar with the personality of each monkey and Kim fortunately did not get her little hands on the baby. We will observe at the zoo for 3 more days and then come back and analyze all of the data we have collected. Our sampling methods mainly focus on the specific behaviors of the infant, recording which adult she is with during each sample we take. We take proximity samples to see who is near her the most and then finally, a time budget scan of the entire troop throughout the day so we can ultimately give the zoo an idea of how they spend their time each day.
It has been a pleasure to observe at Ouwehand Zoo, the staff is great and I have really enjoyed watching these monkeys. I am excited for 3 more days with them and I have a feeling I will miss it as the end is approaching so quickly. Other than class work, we relxed in Wageningen for the weekend, gave our wallets a break and I enjoyed the town market on Saturday. However, we finally booked our trip to Berlin which I am quite excited for! I will likely post more pictures on photobucket of our darling baby and the other monkeys later on this evening. For now, I hope all is well with everyone back in the states and whoever is traveling anywhere and everywhere! We are jealous of the hot weather we keep hearing about, it has been overcast with bouts of rain for most of this week and we are missing 'summer weather.' However, I know I will regret saying that if it does get warm eventually with the lack of air conditioning! So far, so good!
An advantage that we have noticed we have over the other students in the class, is that English is our first language, we think in English, we speak it, we write it. We have found that many students need much more time to write out the reports and presentations, as they have told us they sit there and talk about how to write it correctly in English. They speak much slower and use simple language, understandably so. We discovered exactly what they meant when we had to complete peer reviews of their background research introductions. The English in the paper I was reviewing was very poor and Allison and I barely knew where to begin, because we were unsure of how far we were supposed to critique. We were told to watch for sentence structure, not just content and becoming so brain washed and trained over the years caused this review to be much harder for us than intended.
However, our observations at the zoo have been great! We finally met the zoo keeper for our monkeys on Thursday morning before we began observing and she helped us to identify almost all 10 monkeys of the troop. We can finally pair names with key features and people probably think that we are crazy as they walk by and hear us speaking to the monkeys using their names. We are primarily interested in the infant who was born on May 16 and who she (we think it's a girl, as does the zoo) spends the most time with. So far we have found that there are 2 older males in the troop that spend a decent amount of time with her, her young mother spends the most and then there was quite a bit of drama in the troop Thursday when the youngest, very interested female of the troop stole the infant for over an hour. This was very nerve racking for us because she is very inexperienced, she has never had a young of her own and she was running around the habitat carrying our screaming subject by the neck. This went on for the longest time, zoo keepers kept coming by debating whether to get their manager, however there was not much to be done, as the zoo barely ever handles these monkeys. The head keeper came by later after the mom had her baby back finally and to our surprise we learned that this very female, named Kim, was the monkey who killed the infant that was born earlier this year, because she took it from the mother for too long. So now, you can only imagine how nervous we get any time Kim gets near our baby, as we feel the pressure is slightly resting on our shoulders for this infant to survive at least while it's under our watch. The funny part about it all however, is that from the start, Kim was our favorite monkey. She is the most energetic monkey in the troop because she is so young and she is definitely an instigator. Therefore, she's absolutely hilarious to watch, except when she goes after our baby. She is always near the mom and baby, or male + baby, trying to help groom or cuddle, which we thought was beyond adorable until she made her get-away when one of the males let the baby wander within a foot of him during their lunch. Friday's observation was much calmer, we were more familiar with the personality of each monkey and Kim fortunately did not get her little hands on the baby. We will observe at the zoo for 3 more days and then come back and analyze all of the data we have collected. Our sampling methods mainly focus on the specific behaviors of the infant, recording which adult she is with during each sample we take. We take proximity samples to see who is near her the most and then finally, a time budget scan of the entire troop throughout the day so we can ultimately give the zoo an idea of how they spend their time each day.
It has been a pleasure to observe at Ouwehand Zoo, the staff is great and I have really enjoyed watching these monkeys. I am excited for 3 more days with them and I have a feeling I will miss it as the end is approaching so quickly. Other than class work, we relxed in Wageningen for the weekend, gave our wallets a break and I enjoyed the town market on Saturday. However, we finally booked our trip to Berlin which I am quite excited for! I will likely post more pictures on photobucket of our darling baby and the other monkeys later on this evening. For now, I hope all is well with everyone back in the states and whoever is traveling anywhere and everywhere! We are jealous of the hot weather we keep hearing about, it has been overcast with bouts of rain for most of this week and we are missing 'summer weather.' However, I know I will regret saying that if it does get warm eventually with the lack of air conditioning! So far, so good!
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