Turtles, Bats, and Cane Toads

Howdy all

Its been another fun few days here in the rainforest. Last weekend we had a free time in Cairns, full of shopping, lounging by the pool, and making some international friends. It was beautiful and warm and a great break from school. On our way to Cairns we stopped by James Cook University to have a look at their collection of dried vegetation samples from all over far north Queensland.

After returning to the center, we had an animal filled day. First we went to platypus bend, where we helped with a study about bum breathing turtles. They were ADORABLE! I got to hold a baby turtle and take the measurement of a rather rowdy male. After releasing them back into the wild, we were off to a bat hospital. The bats were really cool. Most of the ones there were either orphans by mothers paralyzed by ticks, or adults injured by barbed wire fences. The bats were so docile and unintimidating. I never realized bats could be so cute! We also went spotlighting at Mt Hypipami and saw a bunch of possums.

The school part of things is pretty interesting. I decided to do my final project about the correlation between lung worms and fat bodies in cane toads. After catching cane toads over the past few nights, today was full of dissection and examination. The toad I worked on was extremely infected. Its lungs were almost black with all of the worms present. It was awesomely gross yet fascinating. Its crazy to believe there are only a few more days left in studying abroad, let alone my entire undergrad career.