Owl Pellets

11-22
9PM

Today was a great day. Mark, Neal, Agenta and I wandered around the future Patagonia National Park looking for puma kills. Today it was hares, but pumas here also kill the endangered huemul and the uber populous guanaco. Using data collected from the collars of the 3 pumas, Mark is able to tell where they are spending large chunks of time (4+ hours). This usually means they have killed something and are hanging out at the kill site crunching bones and spitting out hare tails.

Our first few mile hike yielded nothing more than a few tufts of fur. We got lucky on our second site, discovering that one of the pumas had created a cache for the first time. She had killed a hare, and then burried its remains. Another first was the discovery of part of a hare skull in the cache - these pumas are usually very good at devouring every part of the hare except the tail and fur. Typically 1 to 3 of its feet are left. Today we found the tail, fur, part of a jaw bone, the front left leg and an EAR! A cute little ear that had been brutally torn from this bunny´s head.

Our last trek was the longest, hiking through rivers and very wet marshlands. It is spring here, and the temperatures rarely get above 50 degrees during the day. The past few days we´ve seen heavy rain, so my decision to buy new boots and gaiters for this trip was an excellent one. Unfortuantely the two kill sites we visited on our last 8 mile trek yielded no carnage, so we at some chocolate and scurred back to the truck, making it back in time for dinner. My last dinner on the estancia. 17 days on the estancia. The last few with only pan, apples, and a final chocolate bar. I am so ready for a bed. I am so ready to travel alone again.

I wish I could upload photos - in time, in time!