I got around to uploading a clip from back in 2009 to youtube. This was one of the largest turning points in my life for field work and is what embedded such a passion to studying herps on location. Back in 2009 I participated in a study abroad program in Belize Central America with my university. I was probably the only student there who wanted to get the most out of the experience and not a vacation. During my nights off from our routine field assignments and research paperwork, I would find opportunities to go into the field and continue working. I met up with 2 herpers who were staying in Cockscomb Jaguar basin with us to study DNA of a certain population of Amphibians. They saw my peaked interest and invited me to work with them on my last remaining nights at the site.
The first night I went out with them, we climbed a river through the heart of the rainforest for a few hours searching for wildlife, mainly amphibians, but it was dead. The next morning a light tropical depression hit the area and filled the forest full of water. One place in particular was a seasonal pond that had now been filled. We went back to visit the pond the next night and my how things had changed. . .
The sheer number of frogs found in the pond and surrounding trees were astronomical.
Red-eyed Tree Frogs by the thousands
Mexican Tree Frogs
And my personal favorite - the Mexican Burrowing toad (he sounds like a car alarm in the video).
The next week I applied for and took a research technician job for the university where I studied Birds, Reptiles, Brittlestars, and soil bacteria DNA for the next two years giving me a firm foundation to push forward on.
Just wanted to share!
Cheers
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