May is going away quickly. Woke another morning with too much to do and too many opporunities to potentially lose to sleep in. Got lots of official things setup this morning: Gamboa Talk (mini) on monday, Gamboa Workshop next monday, Lunch with Bill Wcislo on tuesday, meeting with batlab on friday.

From the little bit that I got to talk with her on thursday, and from the things that others have told me about her (like her bat-themed play in bulgaria), she seems like a great fit for the Guinea Pig Slot #2. They are going on a trip climbing up a volcano though, so in an effort to waste less time, I gave her a rapid induction. Sort of like a battlefield promotion. I’ll have to follow up with her when she gets back next week [Mosquitoes killing me know as I write this waiting outside the batlab at night…need to move] She ‘s so enthusiastic I can’t wait to see what comes out!

This morning I tagged along with Chris and Victoria on a bullet ant nest hunt which proved to be apocryphal. Instead we worked on ways to test aggression in leaf cutter ants. Having trouble at first, because the ants weren’t biting through the flat foil, but then we though to fold the foil in a bit of a fan shape, and they were able to grab a purchase on it then with their mandibles. This made neat aesthetically pleasing holes that were revealed when held to the sun.

Lunch with Peter. Canned food and chips in the park – no spoons. Then we prepped for some free-form jungle exploring, nominally helping kathy look for monkey comb seeds.