Last night I slept warmly once I got settled into my sleeping bag. The uncomfortable part was when I woke up and had to go to the bathroom. The bathroom is a bit of a walk away, an outside walk through the cold nighttime temperatures. I decided to wait it out until morning. Even then, it was a long process to get out the door. I had to put on different socks to get my feet to fit in my boots, tucked my shoelaces into my shoes since I didn't feel like tying them, get my jacket, hat and gloves on. It seemed to take ages. Then I walked outside and it was COLD. Next thing I knew I was on the ground. My shoelaces had caught on the other boot and brought my hike to a screeching halt. A little bit traumatic, a little bit hilarious. But at 6:30am, no one was looking.
Bears are not seen too often near camp, but the lab stocks bear spray for the enthusiastic hiker.
I met up with the rest of the team at 7:30am for breakfast and afterwards we headed to the lab. Today was our Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC) inspection day, and we had to get the lab cleaned up after not being used all winter. There are certain protocols to follow, and we made sure they were all addressed.
Helen and Cory cleaning for the inspection.
This is one of the rooms that Team Squirrel uses in the Winter Lab at Toolik.
We swept, we disinfected, we mopped, we organized, we took out the trash. We were very thorough, and the inspection was a success. It was conducted via Skype, and the EMT on site, an impartial person, carried a tablet around to show the inspection staff anything they wanted to see. I wasn't around for the actual inspection, but Cory told me that we passed.
An Arctic ground squirrel skull.
This is a partial jaw of a caribou.
I had a couple hours off and relaxed for a bit, and then we went back to the lab to do some preparation for our upcoming fieldwork. We organized our fanny packs for tomorrow, which include carrots and knives (to cut the carrots), pens and pencils, flagging tape, a map of the site and Eppendorf tubes for fecal samples.
This is my fanny pack, and a sample of what is inside.
A short time later, the wolverine crew came back from their rounds, with sad news. One of their collared wolverines has been killed by wolves, apparently when it tried to feed from a caribou carcass that the wolves had killed earlier. The team brought the wolverine back to camp in order to send it south for a necropsy.
Sadly, my first wolverine sighting was of this young female who had been killed by wolves.
In keeping with the teeth theme above, she had really good teeth.
At dinner I chatted with a few of the camp staff and then took a walk with two them afterwards, Molly and Kristen. It is still below freezing, but it doesn't feel as cold as I'd expected with the sun. We walked to the mailbox, only I discovered it is not a regular mailbox. There is no post delivered here, but they put up a mailbox and stock it with candy bars for the Department of Transportation (DOT) workers who drive by to keep the roads clean. So nice. Everyone who works here has been great to talk to, and it's hard to believe I've only known them for one day.
On the walk after dinner we saw a flock of ptarmigan.
The sign at the entrance to the field station.
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