Imbak Canyon: Into The Heart of Borneo Part 2- Frogs?!

Thank you for waiting patiently for my part 2 of Imbak Canyon adventure~

In this post, I would like to share about things that I done in Imbak Canyon.

As it's a Field Work, so means I did not go there for HOLIDAY..

But I go there to WORK....

Our class have been divided into 3 groups which were

 vertebrates, invertebrates( insects) and botany (plant).

I have chosen to be in vertebrates group as I will be taking Birds as my final year project.

P/s: Birds are group under vertebrates.

The vertebrates group~

We worked on Frog and small mammals.

There are only six of us in this group.

P/s: most of my coursemates chose to work on plants.

So, what we basically do in Imbak Canyon for Vertebrates group were frogging and small mammals trapping.

P/s: Frogging means catching frog.

In this post, I would like to talk about FROGGING.

Frogging usually carried out during the night time as frogs are active around 6.30-8.00pm.

What you need during frogging includes a torch light, head lamp, GPS ,a Moisture meter, a sling bag and soft transparent plastic bags.

Torch light and head light are essential in spotting a frog in the dark.

Frogs can be spotted by the reflection of their eyes from light of your torch light.

Moisture meter is used to detect the moisture of surrounding.

GPS is needed to track the location and altitude where the frog specimen found.

Soft transparent plastic bags are needed to keep our frog specimens.

We need to blow in air and tie a knot at the end of the plastic bag.

Rubber band and zipper lock plastic bag are not used in keeping the specimens as the large size frog may hop vigorously and release them selves from the zipper lock.

And at last a sling bag to keep all your specimens in it and Off we GO~

We have been frogging for two nights. 

It was raining for that two days.

We need to wear a rain coat to keep our selves dry.

P/s: actually it did not help much.. 

My hair still wet as the rain water soak through the rain coat..

Walking on a slippery and muddy trail in the night was a hardship...

Not to say that it was a hill trail that we needed to go up and down the slippery slopes...

And I fell down when  going down a slope..

My butt was super pain!!! >.<

But at the last night I manage to catch a small frog with my friend~

A great succes~ ^^

So, do you guys ever hold or catch a frog before?

The first thing that might come into your mind will be:

EWWW.... It's slimy and cold!!!

Yup... That's true...

They are slimy and cold blooded animals... 

It took me a very long time until I get brave enough to hold on a frog...

Not that I afraid of frog...

But holding them just seems to be... Yiaks.....

But at last I hold the first ever living frog on my hand..

Feel like I'm a super woman as I think many GUYS out there don't even dare to touch a frog~

During the day, we need to process the frogs and identified which species that they belong to.

We have to take out the frog and measure its Snout-vent length and weight. 

Then we do Exsitu- Indoor photography for our frogs.

Yes.. We do Indoor photography..

This is to prevent our frogs from escaping and taking photo in a field may not generate a good picture.

To take a photograph, firstly,  we need to set up a mini studio using black cotton clothes as background.

Then we have to find props such as leaves, sticks and stone to recreate the habitat of the frog.

P/s: Different species of frogs have different microhabitat.

So, we need to know the specific habitats of the species before we set up the props. 

And before we place our specimens onto our mini studio, we bath the frog with water to cool them down.

P/s: The photography should be carried out at some where cool and shady..

After placing it on the props, we quickly snap as many picture as we can!!!

P/s: The eyes are important in taking pictures of animals!

Remember to focus and minimize the background so that the Black clothes back group could not be seen in your photo~ 

P/s: I not a professional but just to share what I have learn during my field work~

Here are some photo that I took~

Here are some Things that you should be aware of while handling frog.

Always stay in front of the frog while catching frogs.

P/s: they can only hop to the front but not backwards!

Always hold a frog with their hind leg's joint.

P/s: Frogs jumps with their hind leg, by holding the joint it can prevent them from jumping away from you~

Always wash your hand before handling a frog as frog are sensitive to chemicals.

P/s: The chemicals on your hand might KILL them!

And also, wash your hand after touching a frog and before handling another frog.

This is due to some frogs may secrete poisonous chemical on their skin.

Even though it is harmless to human, it will eventually kill another frog!!

Always remember to blow in sufficient air and pour small amount of water into the plastic bags containing the frogs.

This is to ensure they are comfortable and do not die before you process them!!!

After the processing, we released the frogs back to the nature~

P/s: Usually researchers will kill the specimens and preserve them as sample.

However, Imbak Canyon is a conservation area that doesn't allow us to take any vertebrate sample.

So, the frog are SAFE!!!

P/s: I hate the killing too...

Please don't ask me why conservation biologist kill animals to take sample...

The animal won't gone extinct cause we kill few of it as research purpose.

But destruction of nature does!!!

 (Quoted from my lecture who doesn't want his name to be appeared in internet)

Keeping them as sample can aid in the research to preserve the forest and nature!!!

As our Conservation Biology Slogan:

We Care, We Love , We CONSERVE!!!

~My First time holding a living frog~

Stay tune for the Part 3 of Imbak Canyon Adventure~