The second week of my internship was purely a blast. We worked in the area around Lake City and Gunnison, Colorado, extending our work to Cochetopa Pass near the Continental Divide and the Colorado Trail.
This week we were joined by several more college and grad 
students from CU Boulder. We spent some nights in a house owned by Colorado Parks and Wildlife, and most in the field in beautiful areas. The house we lodged in was located in a gorgeous mountain valley and was filled with about 10 biologists, all focused on different subjects. There were avian researchers, botanists, amphibian and reptile researchers, and mammal biologists. Staying in a house with passionate and fun scientists made for a very fun couple of days in which a wealth of information was acquired.
The first three colonies we trapped were extremely successful as we reached the maximum number of prairie dogs to trap, 30 animals. These made for extremely long days in the field “processing” and releasing animals, but our afternoons were spent hanging out at reservoirs, finding fun places to explore, and cooking on the campfire.
The first colony we worked on threw us a new obstacle as the prairie dogs had fleas. They did not have plague, as all the colonies we work have been previously dusted, but the collection, specie ID, and genetic analysis of fleas adds a new
dimension to the complexity of the study.
This week has given me a great taste of the difficultly but reward and fun that comes with field work. I received a great taste of the camaraderie of field biologists and the smarts they can exchange and discuss!
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