Friday’s workday started off early for us as we headed out to do six interviews at three different TV stations.

Our first two interviews at Phoenix’s CBS station KPHO were early, but went very well. The morning crew there was a lot of fun and very interested in our animal ambassadors. One of the anchors was a little less than thrilled that we had a snake with us, but he warmed up to Tex (our milksnake) eventually. We did our two interviews with them and then it was off to the next studio.

At KNXV, local ABC-TV, we met a wonderful morning news team that was thrilled to have us in their studio. Dassie, our rock hyrax, had a great time exploring the studio between interviews. He is such a character, inspecting the set and the cameras as if he was the floor manager there at the studio!
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A few of my closest friends and I are headed off to Phoenix this week to tell everyone out there what’s going on at the San Diego Zoo.

Of course, you probably know by now that when I say “a few of my closest friends” I mean the ones with fur, feathers, and scales! That’s not to say that I am not good friends with the rest of the team, too. Keepers and other staff members travel with us to make sure all the critters have the best care on the road, just like they would at home.
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My mission: to provide anesthesia support for radio collaring Andean (spectacled) bears as part of a collaborative project between Robyn Appleton of Spectacled Bear Conservation – Peru and the San Diego Zoo’s Institute for Conservation Research to study the biology and the ecology of the bears in the dry forest of the Lambayeque region in northern Peru. (See Russ’ post, Andean Bears: Camera Trappers.)
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We’ve issued challenges to our “green” families and asked them to share their experiences. Challenge #3: A Green Valentine’s Day? Vote online for the family that got the most creative with this task!

Well, thank goodness I got to the co-op last Thursday for our first order, because that bag of food kept us going for several days from what we are calling “snOMG! 2010” Parts 1 and 2 (see previous post, Winter Market Co-op). Long story short: first wave of blizzard dumps 30 inches of snow outside my door and across most of Maryland. That ends Sunday and wave 2 comes roaring in on Tuesday, about 20 more inches. Yes, a total of (at least) 50 inches of snow is now surrounding us. And it’s cold here, so it’s not going anywhere!
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We’ve issued challenges to our “green” families and asked them to share their experiences. Challenge #3: A Green Valentine’s Day? Vote online for the family that got the most creative with this task!

In a word: scrumptious. That’s how good the 100-mile-radius chicken soup came out for the Green Challenge (see previous post, Chicken Noodle Soup). Really, it is quite delicious, and even Paul said the chicken tasted “happier” than the regular (cheaper) grocery store variety. Yeah!
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In Cocha Cashu, sometimes you focus on the bad: the oppressive heat, the mosquitoes, the lurking fear of the unknown. We were welcomed to Estación Biológica Cocha Cashu (EBCC) with record-breaking heat (see previous post, A Walk in the Woods with John Terborgh). The mercury soared to 96 degrees Fahrenheit (36 degrees Celsius) on our second day. That may not sound that hot, but put yourself in a terrarium at 90 plus and you’ll know what I mean.
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We’ve issued challenges to our “green” families and asked them to share their experiences. Challenge #3: A Green Valentine’s Day? Vote online for the family that got the most creative with this task!

This challenge went to Charles because he loves to cook. He suggested a recipe from our favorite celebrity chef, Alton Brown, called Salmon Fillet en Papillote with Julienne Vegetable. We can walk to the corner store and purchase sustainably harvested wild salmon from Alaska’s well-managed fisheries. It’s not local, but it does support people who are looking out for the health of our wildlife and oceans.
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Let’s put this into context: exactly 20 years ago, I picked up a copy of John Terborgh’s Five New World Primates. I was a first-year graduate student in the animal behavior graduate group at the University of California, Davis, about to begin my studies of titi monkeys at the Davis Primate Center. (Finding myself drawn to field biology, I later decided to work with some local nature – ground squirrels and rattlesnakes – for my dissertation.) Before even breaking the binding of the book, I studied the rich illustration on the cover depicting titi, spider, howler, and capuchin monkeys in a dark primeval forest. I longed to work in the field with wild primates, and as I began to turn the pages, a whole new world opened up to me. This place, as John Terborgh described, was magical: ancient, intact, and untouched. Here, even most of the indigenous people are “uncontacted,” living with almost no knowledge of the outside world. This, it seemed, was what I really wanted – an adventure in a true wilderness.
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We’ve issued challenges to our “green” families and asked them to share their experiences. Challenge #3: A Green Valentine’s Day? Vote online for the family that got the most creative with this task!

With our buttery climate and enthusiastic siphoning of water for farming, you’d think it would be a piece of cake to rustle up the ingredients that are made, grown, and raised within a 100-mile radius of San Diego for my world-famous chicken noodle soup. I seized the opportunity to prance over to our Sunday Farmer’s Market, grocery bags in hand, to “hunt and gather” for our Green Valentine’s Day feast (albeit a few days early, due to the Challenge #3 deadline). My chicken soup will be good for the soul and the heart!
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As you know by now (read posts New York Roommates and Packing for a Porcupine’s Flight), we have spent the week traveling around New York. We have been visiting with media and giving talks to different groups about polar bears and what is going on at the San Diego Zoo’s Conrad Prebys Polar Bear Plunge.
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