Field notes, v1522
Page 243
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Transcription
sleeping bags, and Dave was already fighting a pitched battle with them. We all got up and swooped around with flashlights. The watermelon rinds, cantaloupe rinds, and stale bread thrown out in front of the tent were swarming with phyllostia. A dozen could be seen in an area of 400 ft^2 with one sweep of the flashlight. Many of them were fearless and would continue eating only 6 ft. from an observer. They showed food and did not squeakable. No squeaking. Walking up and down the road and around revealed fewer mice than near camp, but still lots. Went back to bed about 1:30, but mice still scampered occasionally over my sleeping bag. While flashlighting saw 3 abodons; shot 2 of them. Also thought I saw 2 marmots, but they were much scarier than the phyllostia and the abodon. Dave tried to defend himself by setting 13 traps everywhere around his bed. When a mouse got caught in one, he would throw it down over the foot of his sleeping bag and set another one. In the morning, there were 7 full traps around his bed and 7 at the foot of his bed??. My 26 traps held 11 phyllostia and 2 marmots, Anita's 20 traps held 11 mice, and Dave's 12 traps held 12 mice. Scared all of them. 4 of them are embalmied for being tissues. One of these 4 looked like a magister with vestigial brown ad dark tail and coarse fur. Not counting Dave's bed line, 58 traps, 34 phyllostia, 2 marmots, 1 abodon.