On Tuesday I have to give an important talk. Instead of preparing for it, I thought I would write a blog instead. Procrastination is one of my more accomplished skills, anyway, so why not indulge myself.
Public speaking is supposed to one of peoples' biggest fears. I have never, thankfully, been put off by it. I have always given talks. When I lived in the UK I gave one for the Young Farmers, the Womens' Institute and at other venues. Here in Brazil I formed a support group and had to lead those meetings. And a couple of years ago I gave a talk to Residents at a veterinary hospital on handling injured birds of prey.
Preparation is key. You should go into the room the day before to check that its layout suits your purposes. If not, move the furniture around if you can.
Nowadays most people use PowerPoint. You need to familiarize yourself with it. Then compile your slides and know what you are going to say. You should know your content. Donn't think you are going to impress anybody by going in and reading from a sheet of paper. That is a poor performance. Learn your material. Oherwise you will appear unprofessional. Rehearse beforehand infront of a mirror and with somebody. Do a dress rehearsal.
If you follow these steps, then you will feel mentally prepared. Then go in to the venue telling yourself you know more than anybody else in that room at that time about that subject. Dress appropriately.
Body language. and voice tonality
Before entering the room, go to a cloakroom or private place and for five minutes do physical exercise that take up space and that maximize your physicality. This boosts your blood system's testosterone levels and will decrease stress and maximise performance. I have mentioned these activities before on this blog.
At the venue, keep your head up. Make eye contact with everybody in the room. But mainly look towards the back wall because this has the default effect of throwing your voice so that everybody can hear you. As to voice, tell everybody that they can ask questions throughout or only at the end. You need to tell them this. Or they will not know. To sound authoritative you should speak from your diaphragm and speak your sentences as you breathe out.
Good luck.
Saturday, 12 December 2015
Sunday, 6 December 2015
Studies of Cuiabá Basin Wildlife: the Undulated Tinamou/Jaó. Cuiabá Basin Fauna Project (CBFP) Pages.
Welcome back to these species profiles. Today we talk about the Undulated Tinamou. It is a ground-dwelling bird that seems reluctant to fly when under threat. Rather, it skulks low on the ground. To this biologist it seems to fulfill the ecological niche that would be inhabited by Grey and Red-Legged Partridges in Britain.
They are not rare. Athough not seen very oftern, this is a behavioural trait rather than anything to do with their population density, population size or population distribution. They are grazers and feed on seeds which are crushed in the gizzard. Their size is 28 centimetres. They are heard very often in the undergrowth, but rarely seen.
The best plates can be found in Helmut Sick's 'Brazilian Ornithology' / Ornitologia Brasileira.
Taxonomically, it is classified as
They are not rare. Athough not seen very oftern, this is a behavioural trait rather than anything to do with their population density, population size or population distribution. They are grazers and feed on seeds which are crushed in the gizzard. Their size is 28 centimetres. They are heard very often in the undergrowth, but rarely seen.
The best plates can be found in Helmut Sick's 'Brazilian Ornithology' / Ornitologia Brasileira.
Taxonomically, it is classified as
- Kingdom Animalia
- Phylum Chordata - the chordates or animals possessing a spinal cord ie the vertebrates
- Class Aves - the birds
- Order Tinamiformes - quail, partridges and allies (23 species according to author Sick)
- Family Tinamidae
- Genus Crypturellus
- Species Crypturellus undulatus undulatus
Saturday, 5 December 2015
Some Challenges Faced by Mato Grossense Agribusiness.
I have just given an English class and it produced some fascinating insights into the difficulties farmers in Mato Grosso face. Such as water shortages. The problem is to increase productivity. There is very little land available for crop growing.
I have heard it said that some people have an issue with crops being grown as animal feed protein when they should be being planted to provide high-value protein (which soya is, if I am not mistaken) for human consumption. My class made an interesting point. We need high value- which means easily digestible or easily assimilated - protein. Whether or not the source of that protein comes from an animal or plant source is a question of economics.
Mato Grosso is good for crops. It has high levels of insolation, rain and humidity, and good topography. It is top for cotton, soya and beef production. It is third or fourth for cotton.
What does a farmer need to be successful in Mato Grosso? He needs knowledge and passion. He needs knowledge about the rains. He needs to be observant and needs leadership skills.
Why leadership slills? The farmer needs to leead a team. For example, if he produces 2500 sacks of soya, he needs to employ 8-10 people all year round and 5-6 temporary staff.
He needs to know a strategy for cultivating his crops. He needs a pest and weed control strategy. He needs to be intelligent and innovative to create these strategies. He needs to employ technology. For example, irrigation systems. He needs machinery to sow seed. He needs spraying machines and combine harvesters. He needs money for seeds and fertilizer. He incurs costs of R$2500 per hectare to produce a hectare of soya. A hectare produces a mean of 50 bags of soya. Each sack sells for R$55, according to my student. These values change yearly. Growers need managment skills.
What qualities does a person need to be a manager? Trustworthiness, a liking for other people; empathy; charisma. He needs to be an attentive listener. He needs to always be prepared. He needs to be able to develop people especially when that person has a problem.
How to develop somebody? My class's approach is to observe the person when working alongside him or her, especially when he or she is under pressure. My students pay attention to the employee's performance under pressure, then give the person feedback when the person does something wrong. When the person does something right he receives recognition in front of others. Feedback is done privately and with the objective of helping him or her make adjustments. Skills need to be maximised and negatives minimised.
I have heard it said that some people have an issue with crops being grown as animal feed protein when they should be being planted to provide high-value protein (which soya is, if I am not mistaken) for human consumption. My class made an interesting point. We need high value- which means easily digestible or easily assimilated - protein. Whether or not the source of that protein comes from an animal or plant source is a question of economics.
Mato Grosso is good for crops. It has high levels of insolation, rain and humidity, and good topography. It is top for cotton, soya and beef production. It is third or fourth for cotton.
What does a farmer need to be successful in Mato Grosso? He needs knowledge and passion. He needs knowledge about the rains. He needs to be observant and needs leadership skills.
Why leadership slills? The farmer needs to leead a team. For example, if he produces 2500 sacks of soya, he needs to employ 8-10 people all year round and 5-6 temporary staff.
He needs to know a strategy for cultivating his crops. He needs a pest and weed control strategy. He needs to be intelligent and innovative to create these strategies. He needs to employ technology. For example, irrigation systems. He needs machinery to sow seed. He needs spraying machines and combine harvesters. He needs money for seeds and fertilizer. He incurs costs of R$2500 per hectare to produce a hectare of soya. A hectare produces a mean of 50 bags of soya. Each sack sells for R$55, according to my student. These values change yearly. Growers need managment skills.
What qualities does a person need to be a manager? Trustworthiness, a liking for other people; empathy; charisma. He needs to be an attentive listener. He needs to always be prepared. He needs to be able to develop people especially when that person has a problem.
How to develop somebody? My class's approach is to observe the person when working alongside him or her, especially when he or she is under pressure. My students pay attention to the employee's performance under pressure, then give the person feedback when the person does something wrong. When the person does something right he receives recognition in front of others. Feedback is done privately and with the objective of helping him or her make adjustments. Skills need to be maximised and negatives minimised.
How to Develop Your Mindset to Face Challenges
When I look back on the past few years here in Brazil the things I have achieved barely seem possible. What is for certain is that the young man who came out here with two suitcases of books and one of clothes no longer exists. The challenges of being out here and solving problems has been performance-enhancing beyond belief.
I think I was the first person to bring falconry and hawking to the Central-Westen state of Mato Grosso. That is now practiced by two people. One, Miguel, flies a female aplomado falcon and a plumbeous kite. The other, Emerson, flies a male aplomado.
I am also about to be the first Briton to qualify as a Veterinary Surgeon in Mato Grosso. And if you thought veterinary medicine is about animals, think again. It is about people.
The reason I started this blog, in fact, was to think through the problems I was facing on my clinical rotations as a person older than the rest of my team, from a different culture, speaking a different language, and with different interests (wildlife). I also learned what narcissism meant, as I had to work with somebody displaying narcissistic tendencies.
I considered giving up twice: in the third semester and at the start of the ninth. That is, at the start of the clinical rotations when I had to work with this person. I suppose you could say I was bullied, though at my age and status in life I don't recognise myself as having been a victim of bullying.
Instead, I felt angry. Angry that having to deal with some difficult characters really detracted from my full enjoyment of the clinical rotations. Secondly, it made me a stronger person. This 'bullying' made me sit down back in March and come up with a strategy on how to deal with the situation. It was a valuable experience. It taught me to think in terms of 'mindset'. That is, mental atitude and fortitude. I remember I used to arrive early and do some body language exercises to pump up the testosterone and decrease my blood cortisol so that stress was reduced and I felt stimulated and ready to face the World. Or rather, my clinical team. Yes, performance is all to do with hormones. Serotonin, oxytocin and testosterone are the ones you need, and I discovered useful exercises via a Vanessa Van Edwards vídeo on boosting your performance. It is also helpful to the PUA guys to get into the zone.
Now the course is all but finished and I face the decision of returning to Britain or staying in Brazil. What an enormous cop-out it would be to not practice veterinary medicine if I returned now to my home country. If I say, I can at least practice. So if anybody in Brazil wants a bilingual vet with a passion for surgery amd fish farming and international business.... I qualify in January.
I think I was the first person to bring falconry and hawking to the Central-Westen state of Mato Grosso. That is now practiced by two people. One, Miguel, flies a female aplomado falcon and a plumbeous kite. The other, Emerson, flies a male aplomado.
I am also about to be the first Briton to qualify as a Veterinary Surgeon in Mato Grosso. And if you thought veterinary medicine is about animals, think again. It is about people.
The reason I started this blog, in fact, was to think through the problems I was facing on my clinical rotations as a person older than the rest of my team, from a different culture, speaking a different language, and with different interests (wildlife). I also learned what narcissism meant, as I had to work with somebody displaying narcissistic tendencies.
I considered giving up twice: in the third semester and at the start of the ninth. That is, at the start of the clinical rotations when I had to work with this person. I suppose you could say I was bullied, though at my age and status in life I don't recognise myself as having been a victim of bullying.
Instead, I felt angry. Angry that having to deal with some difficult characters really detracted from my full enjoyment of the clinical rotations. Secondly, it made me a stronger person. This 'bullying' made me sit down back in March and come up with a strategy on how to deal with the situation. It was a valuable experience. It taught me to think in terms of 'mindset'. That is, mental atitude and fortitude. I remember I used to arrive early and do some body language exercises to pump up the testosterone and decrease my blood cortisol so that stress was reduced and I felt stimulated and ready to face the World. Or rather, my clinical team. Yes, performance is all to do with hormones. Serotonin, oxytocin and testosterone are the ones you need, and I discovered useful exercises via a Vanessa Van Edwards vídeo on boosting your performance. It is also helpful to the PUA guys to get into the zone.
Now the course is all but finished and I face the decision of returning to Britain or staying in Brazil. What an enormous cop-out it would be to not practice veterinary medicine if I returned now to my home country. If I say, I can at least practice. So if anybody in Brazil wants a bilingual vet with a passion for surgery amd fish farming and international business.... I qualify in January.
Sunday, 29 November 2015
Ramphastid's Progress. Fauna Cuiabana. Cuiabá Basin Fauna Proect (CPFP) Pages.
I make it a point of asking people their permission before I pass on their details to somebody else (administrators of mobile texting discussion groups take note).
So yesterday when I doorstepped a local television journalist to tell her about a toucan chick I am helping to rear, I knew the chick would not object because it could not. One point to me.
I had seen, met and spoken to this journalist some years previously in the Pantanal. She told me that if I ever had a story, to get in touch.
I have a friend in the UK, Neil. Whenever I am at home we go out for a pint. He tells me that some of the stuff I do out here is unique. So I told the journalist I would be the only British mature student graduating in my new career soon. I could be wrong. But I don't think so. I would like to know if I am. Free publicity and all that. If you've got it, flaunt it, as one of my Animal Science lecturers once told me.
More to the point, I told her about the toucan neonate. It is still alive; indeed thriving. This is because the vet has got its diet right. The only problem is that it seems likely that the bird wil be imprinted.
Imprinting is when young animals are reared by humans in the absence of their own kind. This is not a disaster in my opinion. This bird will serve a useful educational role. I intend to contact my professor to ask him if he minds my passing the info on to the journalist. He has a clinic so it will be good publicity for him. And I believe that what he has achieved with the toucan's nutrition is almost a first.
Imprinting has been used by Conservation Biologists. Especially Raptor Biologists. Pink the Mauritius Kestrel, who I knew personally, was an imprint and was conditioned to copulate into a rubber-brimmed hat. The case was made famous in Douglas Adams' and Mark Carwardine's book 'Last Chance to See'. So of this toucan... We believe it is an araçari... If this araçari turns out to be a male, maybe it can be conditioned to copulate with a hat. What an interesting blog that would be.
So yesterday when I doorstepped a local television journalist to tell her about a toucan chick I am helping to rear, I knew the chick would not object because it could not. One point to me.
I had seen, met and spoken to this journalist some years previously in the Pantanal. She told me that if I ever had a story, to get in touch.
I have a friend in the UK, Neil. Whenever I am at home we go out for a pint. He tells me that some of the stuff I do out here is unique. So I told the journalist I would be the only British mature student graduating in my new career soon. I could be wrong. But I don't think so. I would like to know if I am. Free publicity and all that. If you've got it, flaunt it, as one of my Animal Science lecturers once told me.
More to the point, I told her about the toucan neonate. It is still alive; indeed thriving. This is because the vet has got its diet right. The only problem is that it seems likely that the bird wil be imprinted.
Imprinting is when young animals are reared by humans in the absence of their own kind. This is not a disaster in my opinion. This bird will serve a useful educational role. I intend to contact my professor to ask him if he minds my passing the info on to the journalist. He has a clinic so it will be good publicity for him. And I believe that what he has achieved with the toucan's nutrition is almost a first.
Imprinting has been used by Conservation Biologists. Especially Raptor Biologists. Pink the Mauritius Kestrel, who I knew personally, was an imprint and was conditioned to copulate into a rubber-brimmed hat. The case was made famous in Douglas Adams' and Mark Carwardine's book 'Last Chance to See'. So of this toucan... We believe it is an araçari... If this araçari turns out to be a male, maybe it can be conditioned to copulate with a hat. What an interesting blog that would be.
Thursday, 26 November 2015
Muscovy Ducks. Fauna Cuiabana. Cuiaba Basin Fauna Project (CBFP) Pages
This is the week when the Project which forms the basis of these pages was submitted. As it happens, it doesn't mark the end of this series of pages. Last weekend I was in the Pantanal in a city called Santo Antônio de Leverger. I saw plenty of wildlife. Also, today the supervisor of my Project wants me to continue the research. So although the Project has now been submitted, the research goes on.
Here is the taxonomic classification of the Muscovy Duck
In Portuguese the species is called Pato-do-Mato, the Forest Duck.
They are very visible and common. Although I haven't consulted the Red List, I am a Conservation Biologist so can speak from hours of experience in the field. They are huge, heavy birds. My companions and I saw a male take off and it needed a runway of several metres.
They gave rise to the domestic duck of South América, according to Helmut Sick in his book Brazilian Ornithology.
Here is the taxonomic classification of the Muscovy Duck
- Kingdom Animalia
- Phylum Chordata
- Class Aves
- Order Anseriformes - the wildfowl.
- Family Anatidae
- Genus Cairina
- Species Cairina moschata
In Portuguese the species is called Pato-do-Mato, the Forest Duck.
They are very visible and common. Although I haven't consulted the Red List, I am a Conservation Biologist so can speak from hours of experience in the field. They are huge, heavy birds. My companions and I saw a male take off and it needed a runway of several metres.
They gave rise to the domestic duck of South América, according to Helmut Sick in his book Brazilian Ornithology.
Monday, 16 November 2015
Fork-Tailed Flycatcher. Fauna Cuiabana. Cuiabá Basin Fauna Project (CBFP) Pages
One of the interesting things about biology is convergent evolution. And one of the interesting things that I found today was that convergent evolution can be macro or micro and not just macro - species appearing similar across different parts of the globe.
The Fork-Tailed Flycatcher is one example. Evolutionary biologists may correct me regarding this and they are most welcome to do so. To me, the Fork-Tailed Flycatcher looks very like the Paradise Flycatcher of África and Asia. These majestic songbirds have tail trains ten-times the length of their body.
I saw one today over Avenida Rubens de Mendonça, the main street in Cuiabá. Whoever came to see the World Cup here will know it.
It is classified thus:
It is common and widespread and quite beautiful.
Happy birding!
The Fork-Tailed Flycatcher is one example. Evolutionary biologists may correct me regarding this and they are most welcome to do so. To me, the Fork-Tailed Flycatcher looks very like the Paradise Flycatcher of África and Asia. These majestic songbirds have tail trains ten-times the length of their body.
I saw one today over Avenida Rubens de Mendonça, the main street in Cuiabá. Whoever came to see the World Cup here will know it.
It is classified thus:
- Kingdom Animalia
- Phylum Chordata
- Class Aves
- Order Passeriformes (the songbirds or perching birds)
- Family Tyrannidae
- Subfamily Tyranninae
- Genus Tyrannus
- Species Tyrannus savana.
It is common and widespread and quite beautiful.
Happy birding!
Friday, 13 November 2015
Collaborating Over Wildlife.Fauna Cuiabana/Cuiabá Basin Fauna Project (CBFP) Pages
One of the earliest lessons we learn as conservationists and naturalists is that for a conservation project to work it needs local support. And money.
A lot of people over here use a free mobile-device text messaging service. You can create groups through it. I was particularly pleased this morning to see it being used by one of our lecturers here at the veterinary school I am about to graduate from.
He has set up a group that he calls 'Silvestres'. This is the Portuguese word for wildlife. In this group he has united a small group of people passionate about improving conditions and care for wild and exotic patients that come to our attention.
I am confident this group will work because we have specific objectives: to arrange a field visit tomorrow and coordinate feeds of a toucan chick.
If I have learned one thing at Vets' school it is the importance of team work.
A lot of people over here use a free mobile-device text messaging service. You can create groups through it. I was particularly pleased this morning to see it being used by one of our lecturers here at the veterinary school I am about to graduate from.
He has set up a group that he calls 'Silvestres'. This is the Portuguese word for wildlife. In this group he has united a small group of people passionate about improving conditions and care for wild and exotic patients that come to our attention.
I am confident this group will work because we have specific objectives: to arrange a field visit tomorrow and coordinate feeds of a toucan chick.
If I have learned one thing at Vets' school it is the importance of team work.
Thursday, 12 November 2015
Tropical Travellers' Tips. Cuiabá Basin Fauna Project Pages.
A visit to a dermatologist yielded useful tips for naturalists wanting to visit Tropical regions to view wildlife. Ecotourism hotspots don't get much hotter than the Cuiabá Basin. Birders, nature lovers, Field Biologists and Veterinarians can all benefit from the following advice.
I thought I would share this useful information. I am not a doctor. I include it here in good faith and as a cponsciousness-raiser. Two strengths of sun protection factor sun cream are recommended for the tropics, Sun Protection Factor (SPF 70) for the face and SPF 60 for the arms.
I was told to apply it twice a day; first thing in the morning and after lunch. That is, if you are having a day relaxing and acclimatising yourself and your children around your hotel or pousada. If you are planning a day with an excursion, apply the cream three times as each application only lasts about four hours. That is a very rough estimate. Apply at breakfast time, lunch time and mid-afternoon.
Alteratively, there are special protective clothes available. Although these will make you hotter and more likely to perspire. But the solution to that is to go more slowly. And anyway, if you are a field naturalist trying to observe wildlife you need to move slowly. Unless you are observing endangered Partula snails. But they don't occur in the Cuiabá Basin.
I thought I would share this useful information. I am not a doctor. I include it here in good faith and as a cponsciousness-raiser. Two strengths of sun protection factor sun cream are recommended for the tropics, Sun Protection Factor (SPF 70) for the face and SPF 60 for the arms.
I was told to apply it twice a day; first thing in the morning and after lunch. That is, if you are having a day relaxing and acclimatising yourself and your children around your hotel or pousada. If you are planning a day with an excursion, apply the cream three times as each application only lasts about four hours. That is a very rough estimate. Apply at breakfast time, lunch time and mid-afternoon.
Alteratively, there are special protective clothes available. Although these will make you hotter and more likely to perspire. But the solution to that is to go more slowly. And anyway, if you are a field naturalist trying to observe wildlife you need to move slowly. Unless you are observing endangered Partula snails. But they don't occur in the Cuiabá Basin.
Toucans. Fauna Cuiabana. Cuiabá Basin Fauna Project Pages.
I wrote on April 20th 2015 about Toco Toucans. That paage concerned adult birds. This one concerns nestlings. Here in the Cuiabá Basin in Western Brazil there are several species of toucan. There is the White throated toucan, the Channel-billed, Lettered Araçari, Red-necked Araçari and a couple of others.
It is a curious fact for naturalists that the commonest would appear to be the Toco Toucan. This species is classified according to Linnaeus' system of binomial nomenclature in the following way:
The English name is the Toco Toucan. The local Portuguese name is Tucanuçu.
Breeding Biology.
Around the world the breeding season for tropical birds seems to be from October. Just this week I have come across two nestlings. Yesterday it was a Toco Toucan chick, whilst earlier in the week it was a Ruddy Ground Dove.
The chick that was drawn to my attention yesterday is in the clinical analyses laboratory at the veterinary hospital here in the Cuiabá Basin region of Brazil. It must be less than a week old. It is highly vocal and faces two challenges. The first one is being fed a suitable diet. The second one is not imprinting upon its human carers. Time will tell.
It is a curious fact for naturalists that the commonest would appear to be the Toco Toucan. This species is classified according to Linnaeus' system of binomial nomenclature in the following way:
- Kingdom Animalia
- Phylum Chordata
- Class Aves
- Order Piciformes
- Family Ramphastidae (Toucans and araçaris
- Genus Ramphastos
- Species Ramphastos toco.
The English name is the Toco Toucan. The local Portuguese name is Tucanuçu.
Breeding Biology.
Around the world the breeding season for tropical birds seems to be from October. Just this week I have come across two nestlings. Yesterday it was a Toco Toucan chick, whilst earlier in the week it was a Ruddy Ground Dove.
The chick that was drawn to my attention yesterday is in the clinical analyses laboratory at the veterinary hospital here in the Cuiabá Basin region of Brazil. It must be less than a week old. It is highly vocal and faces two challenges. The first one is being fed a suitable diet. The second one is not imprinting upon its human carers. Time will tell.
Tuesday, 10 November 2015
Ruddy Ground Dove. Fauna Cuiabana. Cuiabá Basin Willdlife Project Pages
For the sake of completeness this bird, arguably one of the commonest in Brazil, is included in the archive. This bird was examined as a nestling weighing 20g. Its heart beat was so fast through the stethoscope as to be a constant whirr. More than two beats per second. I estimated 800 per minute.
The Ruddy Ground Dove is classified taxonomically thus:
The physiological values for the nestling found in my garden appear in my veterinary monograph from which this archive arises.
In terms of its Conservation Biology, the bird is ubiquitous in the Cuiabá Basin and throught Brazil.
In terms of its Field Biology, it is found from gound level to the tallest skyscrapers.
In terms of its habitat management, it doesn't need any as it is found in many habitats.
The Ruddy Ground Dove is classified taxonomically thus:
- Kingdom Animalia
- Phylum Chordata
- Class Aves
- Order Columbiformes
- Family Columbidae
- Genus Columbina
- Species talpacoti.
The physiological values for the nestling found in my garden appear in my veterinary monograph from which this archive arises.
In terms of its Conservation Biology, the bird is ubiquitous in the Cuiabá Basin and throught Brazil.
In terms of its Field Biology, it is found from gound level to the tallest skyscrapers.
In terms of its habitat management, it doesn't need any as it is found in many habitats.
Fauna Cuiabana: Aplomado Falcon. Cuiabá Basin Fauna Project Pages.
Welcome back to the Cuiabá Basin Wildlife Project Pages (CBWP), an archive on the conservation biology, field biology, taxonomy and natural history of the animals of the Cuiabá Basin in central South América. On these pages we present information on the conservation biology, field biology and habitat of animals studied as part of a veterinary monograph. The monograph on these species veterianry parameters will be published elsewhere.
This page is about the Aplomado Falcon, whose taxonomic classification is thus:
The International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species version 3.1 indicates that this species is of least concern but decreasing.
This is probably due to habitat fragmentation and urbanisation. The species is within the urban municipality of Cuiabá.
In flight it looks very similar to an American Kestrel. Whilst some of the literature states that it is impossible to get an idea of size when a raptor is in flight, with sufficient familiarity in the field it is not difficult to see that the Aplomado is bigger than an American Kestrel (Falco sparverius). Of course, the Aplomado's field characeteristics can be found readily in any field guide on raptors. Particularly recommended is the author Helmut Sick's
There is some conjecture over the Aplomado Falcon's migratory behaviour. From a quick scan of the later book's species decsription it seems the Aplomado is partially migratory.
Flight Behaviour., It is low-flying and would appear to be a generalista feeder upon small terrestial prey. It is groound feeding, rarely taking birds in flight.
Breeding Behaviour: sparse information in the literature. Reading the second book listed above, I would suggest the lowland South American sub-species Falco femoralis femoralis nests during the local wet season - September to April. A clutch of two siblings came to my attention last night and they would appear to be a month old.
I hope you have found this information a useful awareness-raiser on some aspects of the natural history of this beautiful bird. Until next time, 'bye for now.
This page is about the Aplomado Falcon, whose taxonomic classification is thus:
- Kingdom Animalia
- Phylum Chordata
- Class Aves
- Order Falconiformes
- Family Falconidae
- Genus Falco
- Species Falco femoralis
The International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species version 3.1 indicates that this species is of least concern but decreasing.
This is probably due to habitat fragmentation and urbanisation. The species is within the urban municipality of Cuiabá.
In flight it looks very similar to an American Kestrel. Whilst some of the literature states that it is impossible to get an idea of size when a raptor is in flight, with sufficient familiarity in the field it is not difficult to see that the Aplomado is bigger than an American Kestrel (Falco sparverius). Of course, the Aplomado's field characeteristics can be found readily in any field guide on raptors. Particularly recommended is the author Helmut Sick's
- Brazilian Ornithology.
- Also 'Raptors of the World by Ferguson-Lees and Christie.
There is some conjecture over the Aplomado Falcon's migratory behaviour. From a quick scan of the later book's species decsription it seems the Aplomado is partially migratory.
Flight Behaviour., It is low-flying and would appear to be a generalista feeder upon small terrestial prey. It is groound feeding, rarely taking birds in flight.
Breeding Behaviour: sparse information in the literature. Reading the second book listed above, I would suggest the lowland South American sub-species Falco femoralis femoralis nests during the local wet season - September to April. A clutch of two siblings came to my attention last night and they would appear to be a month old.
I hope you have found this information a useful awareness-raiser on some aspects of the natural history of this beautiful bird. Until next time, 'bye for now.
Sunday, 8 November 2015
Azara's Night Monkey. Fauna Cuiabana. Cuiabá Basin Fauna Project Pages.
This is one of the most chrismatic species to be included on these pages. On these pages we present information on the conservation biology, field biology and habitat of animals studied as part of a veterinary monograph which will be published elsewhere.
This page is about the Azara's Night Monkey, whose taxonomic classification is thus:
The main threat to the species is habitat destruction. That is, forest fragmentation..
It is apparently common. There are three subspecies. It is crepuscular ie active during during dawn and dusk. Its habitat is primary and secondary forest. The diet includes necatr, fruit, leaves and insects. They are monogamous and live in small family groups. Males reach sexual maturity at two years and females at 3-4.
The animal I examined weighed 1.2kg. It is listed as Least Concern by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species 2008.
This page is about the Azara's Night Monkey, whose taxonomic classification is thus:
- Kingdom Animalia
- Phylum Chordata
- Class Mammalia
- Order Primata
- Family Aotidae
- Genus Aotus
- Species Aotus infulatus
- Sub-species Aotus azarae infulatus
The main threat to the species is habitat destruction. That is, forest fragmentation..
It is apparently common. There are three subspecies. It is crepuscular ie active during during dawn and dusk. Its habitat is primary and secondary forest. The diet includes necatr, fruit, leaves and insects. They are monogamous and live in small family groups. Males reach sexual maturity at two years and females at 3-4.
The animal I examined weighed 1.2kg. It is listed as Least Concern by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species 2008.
Fauna Cuiabana. Cuiabá Basin Fauna Project Pages. Ocelots.
Last week another Ocelot (Leopardus pardalis was at the veterinary hospital here in the Cuiabá Basin region in Brazil.
It had been kept as a pet but as it had grown it had become less manageable. It had been passed into the care of the authorities. They had brought it to the veterinary hospital.
I have written before, briefly, about Ocelots. They are apparently common in the Cuiabá Basin. This is the second I have come across in six months.
A veterinary surgeon once told me that the quality of a spotted cat's coat is reflective of its general state of health. I was able to take some vita life sign parameters on this animal, but they will appear elsewhere. This page covers other aspects of the Ocelot.
I estimated this one as weighing between 10 and 15 kg, although I wasn't able to weigh it. It was a mature male. I was struck by its placidity, although this is a deceptive behaviour with wild animals. It was alert, watchful and responsive to its environment. Its eyes were clear and large. Its coat was glossy and healthy. I was helped by Mateus, a veterinary nurse and together we moved the Ocelot to a fresh enclosure so that the other could be cleaned out.
Ocelots are jungle cats and their gorgeous pelage is spotted and striped. This is cryptic camouflage. It enables them to remain hidden in th heat of the day in the shade on the forest floor, if they lie still.
They are clean, hardy and I could feel that this one was very strong. Its claws stayed retracted during the procedure.
This is a short page in which I have attempted to shed some light on the Ocelot's behaviour and habits. I hope you found it informatve and interesting.
It had been kept as a pet but as it had grown it had become less manageable. It had been passed into the care of the authorities. They had brought it to the veterinary hospital.
I have written before, briefly, about Ocelots. They are apparently common in the Cuiabá Basin. This is the second I have come across in six months.
A veterinary surgeon once told me that the quality of a spotted cat's coat is reflective of its general state of health. I was able to take some vita life sign parameters on this animal, but they will appear elsewhere. This page covers other aspects of the Ocelot.
I estimated this one as weighing between 10 and 15 kg, although I wasn't able to weigh it. It was a mature male. I was struck by its placidity, although this is a deceptive behaviour with wild animals. It was alert, watchful and responsive to its environment. Its eyes were clear and large. Its coat was glossy and healthy. I was helped by Mateus, a veterinary nurse and together we moved the Ocelot to a fresh enclosure so that the other could be cleaned out.
Ocelots are jungle cats and their gorgeous pelage is spotted and striped. This is cryptic camouflage. It enables them to remain hidden in th heat of the day in the shade on the forest floor, if they lie still.
They are clean, hardy and I could feel that this one was very strong. Its claws stayed retracted during the procedure.
This is a short page in which I have attempted to shed some light on the Ocelot's behaviour and habits. I hope you found it informatve and interesting.
Saturday, 7 November 2015
Fauna Cuiabana. Cuiabá Basin Fauna Project Pages: Spot-Breasted Woodpecker Natural History
Welcome to the Cuiabá Basin Wildlife Project pages. These are a series of pages each of which covers the natural history, field biology, habitats and conservation biology ie level of endangerment of wild animal species found in the Cuiabá Basin. The Cuaibá Basin is a unique area that Field Biologist call an ecotone. An ecotone is an area where several habitats come together. In the Cuiabá Basin these include the Pantanal (a wetland), the cerrado (savannah) and gallery forest, a riparian habitat. Ecotourists and birdwatchers (birders) delight in coming to the area for its wildlife diversity. That biodiversity has evolved as a result of the habitat diversity arising from this ecotone.
In terms of what one of my old teachers used to call political geography the Cuiabá Basin covers the municipalities of Cuiabá, Varzea Grande, Poconé, Santo Antônio de Leverger and Cangas, all in the state of Mato Grosso in Central Western Brazil.
These pages are inspired by a study on the veterinary aspects of Cuiabá Basin animals that are in-patients at one of the region's veterinary hospitals. I use the world 'inspired' because the veterinary care of these animals appears in a monograph which I am writing as I complete Veterinary School in the region.
I am also a qualified Conservation Biologist, Habitat Manager and Field Biologist. Whilst the veterinary parameters of these species covered in these pages appears in my monograph, a blog seems the perfect place to write about the conservation biology, field biology and habitat preference of the species under study.
Without further ado, the first entry is on the Spot-Breasted Woodpecker, Colaptes punctigula. This is a gorgeous bird. The best field guide to use to identiify it is the
The book gives the habitat as being the 'middlegrowth' layer of forests. As a Field Biologist my desire is to clarify that. Perhaps it is what I call the shrub-layer or understorey. The book notes that the species' ethiology is little known.
Version 3.1 of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature's Red List states the species as being of least concern and increasing.
The specimen at my vets' school clearly is in good health and has been deposited there by the wildlife authorities for expediency pending release.
In terms of what one of my old teachers used to call political geography the Cuiabá Basin covers the municipalities of Cuiabá, Varzea Grande, Poconé, Santo Antônio de Leverger and Cangas, all in the state of Mato Grosso in Central Western Brazil.
These pages are inspired by a study on the veterinary aspects of Cuiabá Basin animals that are in-patients at one of the region's veterinary hospitals. I use the world 'inspired' because the veterinary care of these animals appears in a monograph which I am writing as I complete Veterinary School in the region.
I am also a qualified Conservation Biologist, Habitat Manager and Field Biologist. Whilst the veterinary parameters of these species covered in these pages appears in my monograph, a blog seems the perfect place to write about the conservation biology, field biology and habitat preference of the species under study.
Without further ado, the first entry is on the Spot-Breasted Woodpecker, Colaptes punctigula. This is a gorgeous bird. The best field guide to use to identiify it is the
- Avis Brasilis Field Guide to the Birds of Brazil, written by Tomas Sigrist and published by Avis Brasilis.
The book gives the habitat as being the 'middlegrowth' layer of forests. As a Field Biologist my desire is to clarify that. Perhaps it is what I call the shrub-layer or understorey. The book notes that the species' ethiology is little known.
Version 3.1 of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature's Red List states the species as being of least concern and increasing.
The specimen at my vets' school clearly is in good health and has been deposited there by the wildlife authorities for expediency pending release.
English Class on the Usage of 'e.g.' and 'cherubim'.
Today I gave an English class to a Brazilian student who is a manager with a multinational corporation. He needs English for speaking with and e-mailing American and German colleagues. I enjoy giving him classes because the class content requires me to keep updated. Today we studied fun books for learning grammar, an acronym and an item of vocabulary.
I don't dislike teaching grammar. It is an essential part of teaching English as a foreign language. I almost always need to use a textbook. And textbooks that fator in a fun element are worth their weight in gold. I used three this morning.
My student asked what 'e.g.' stood for. This is a common question. The MacMillan English Dictionary for Advanced Learners has the answer. 'E.g.' comes from the Latin exempli gratia, which means "for the sake of example".
One of my student's final important questions arose from his coming across the word 'cherubim' in one of those amusing grammar books listed above. I reached fro my dictionary, as I do in such circumstances. I couldn't find the word. My explanation was that 'cherubic' is an adjective whilst 'cherubim' could be the noun from the adjective. Now I realise I meant 'cherub'. If you can educate me on this point of fundamental semantic importance, please do.
I don't dislike teaching grammar. It is an essential part of teaching English as a foreign language. I almost always need to use a textbook. And textbooks that fator in a fun element are worth their weight in gold. I used three this morning.
- Lost for Words: The Mangling and Manipulating of the English Language. Humphrys, J. 2004. Hodder and Stoughton, London.
- Eats, Shoots and Leaves. Truss, L. 2005. Profile Books Ltd., London.
- Getting the Point. Haddon, J. and Hawksley, E. 2006. Floris Books, Edinburgh.
My student asked what 'e.g.' stood for. This is a common question. The MacMillan English Dictionary for Advanced Learners has the answer. 'E.g.' comes from the Latin exempli gratia, which means "for the sake of example".
One of my student's final important questions arose from his coming across the word 'cherubim' in one of those amusing grammar books listed above. I reached fro my dictionary, as I do in such circumstances. I couldn't find the word. My explanation was that 'cherubic' is an adjective whilst 'cherubim' could be the noun from the adjective. Now I realise I meant 'cherub'. If you can educate me on this point of fundamental semantic importance, please do.
Studies of Cuiabá Basin Wildlife
The Cuiabá Basin lies in the centre of South América in the state of Mato Grosso, Central Western Brazil. It includes the city of Cuiabá, the Pantanal and surounding cerrado. Just over a year ago I was studying the raptors that came into the veterinary hospital in Cuiabá. Then I was struck by the diversity of other wildlife being brought in and decided these patients were too interesting not to be covered in the final monograph for my course.
Students on the small animal clinical module of their clinical rotations measure the vital life sign parameters of dog and cat in-patients on a daily basis. I decided that by the simple expediency of extending these protocols to wild animals being brought in by the authorities, a lot of important data could be collected.
Yesterday was a case in point and I was able to measure heart rate, respiratory rate and body temperature of eight animals belonging to seven species.
From a Conservation Biology point of view the most interesting animal was the Feline Night Monkey,an endangered species. From a Field Biologist's point of view, the most interesting was the Ocelot because these are a top predator and also the Dot-Fronted Woodpecker because it is so unusual to have the opportunity to examine one.
Students on the small animal clinical module of their clinical rotations measure the vital life sign parameters of dog and cat in-patients on a daily basis. I decided that by the simple expediency of extending these protocols to wild animals being brought in by the authorities, a lot of important data could be collected.
Yesterday was a case in point and I was able to measure heart rate, respiratory rate and body temperature of eight animals belonging to seven species.
- Ocelot Leopardus pardalis
- Feline Night Monkey Aotus infulatus
- Striped Owl Asio clamator
- Turquoise-fronted Parrot Amazona aestiva
- Roadside Hawk Buteo magnirostris
- Dot-fronted Woodpecker Veniliornis frontalis
- Crested Caracara Polyborus plancus
From a Conservation Biology point of view the most interesting animal was the Feline Night Monkey,an endangered species. From a Field Biologist's point of view, the most interesting was the Ocelot because these are a top predator and also the Dot-Fronted Woodpecker because it is so unusual to have the opportunity to examine one.
Thursday, 5 November 2015
Sexing Falcons - the Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) Technique
There are various ways of doing this. In this blog I am talking about sexing captive-bred falcons.
If your interest is in free-flying, wild, non-captive bred individuals then you will need a good field guide and good binoculars. As to choice of binocular, that really is a personal choice. Recently I was talking to an expert ornithologist demonstrating binoculars and telescopes at a Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) nature reserve in Conwy in my native North Wales. He basically said that choice of binocular is less to do with price and more to do with whether the binocular suits your vision.
When I had an agreement with Brazil's federal environment agency to take in and rehabilitate birds of prey part of that agreement involved sexing the birds that were my repsonsibility. It is a fairly invasive process but the ends justify the means. A minimal blood sample is taken from the tip of a talon and placed on special filter paper provided by a comercial laboratory. To the slip of paper is added the bird's ring number and other identification details (species, age) and then an accompanying form is completed and the whole lot popped in an envelope and sent to São Paulo. You get the result over e-mail within days so as to progress your pairings and a very smart certificate several days later. Good for people who are breeding pedigree birds.
That's how I used to do it and I always found the company processed the samples in good time and reliably.
If your interest is in free-flying, wild, non-captive bred individuals then you will need a good field guide and good binoculars. As to choice of binocular, that really is a personal choice. Recently I was talking to an expert ornithologist demonstrating binoculars and telescopes at a Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) nature reserve in Conwy in my native North Wales. He basically said that choice of binocular is less to do with price and more to do with whether the binocular suits your vision.
When I had an agreement with Brazil's federal environment agency to take in and rehabilitate birds of prey part of that agreement involved sexing the birds that were my repsonsibility. It is a fairly invasive process but the ends justify the means. A minimal blood sample is taken from the tip of a talon and placed on special filter paper provided by a comercial laboratory. To the slip of paper is added the bird's ring number and other identification details (species, age) and then an accompanying form is completed and the whole lot popped in an envelope and sent to São Paulo. You get the result over e-mail within days so as to progress your pairings and a very smart certificate several days later. Good for people who are breeding pedigree birds.
That's how I used to do it and I always found the company processed the samples in good time and reliably.
Monday, 2 November 2015
How not to Meet the Governor!
Yesterday I doorstepped the State Governor. As I turned the corner I saw him and realised a) I had no idea how to spell his name nor b) what, in fact, was the correct pronunciation of same. I figure if you are going to walk up and introduce yourself to the man these really are fundamental considerations that sort of go hand in hand with being well prepared for such an encounter. Then I reminded myself that this was in fact merely a chance encounter - and one not to be missed. I knew the Guv'nor and I could become potentially very good friends, confiding in each other, doing the school run when one or other was ill, exchanging 'Mystery Friend' Christmas presents. He just didn't know any of these things yet.
And I was feeling at peace with the World having just come out of an afternoon showing of 'Friday the 13th'. It was Hallowe'en and I had been eight years old when the film was released and thus a little young to be watching people dying violent and grisly deaths. But with a belly full of toffee popcorn and with a finger rubbing away the final traces of the sugary snack from my incisors I crossed the foyer of the shopping mall and introduced myself. I knew the Governor must be a people person the way he was sat prominently in the foyer with no security. I presume protocol exists for these things and, born iconoclast that I am, I went ahead and breached it.
I cannot vote here. I would if I could, but I can't. I have a permanent visa here, indeed am totally legal. Mrs Beaumont is Brazilian. You cannot imagine, you really cannot imagine, the jaw-dropping complexity of marrying in Brazil. I needed papers issuing in Britain from a minister of religion that I was a person free to marry. Since I didn'y know any ministers of religion, I had to get my Mum to obtain this. I won't even start to tell you what you have to do to get a university degree revalidated in Brazil. That's a whole different blog.
When you fly over to Brazil, you enter on a tourist's visa. Within three months you have to report to the Federal Police to apply for a permanente visa. I am a lttle fuzzy on the details, frankly, but I am sure that, as part of the process, you have to provide lots of documents that have been issued in your country of origin, stamped by a Notary Public, brought to Brazil, translated by An Official Translator (don't even think of skipping this part, neither the translation nor the officialdom), turn up at the church, say "sim" during all appropriate pauses, ensure a true aim when going in for the kiss, then set up home together. A Federal Police officer will then come and visit you to make sure this is not a sham wedding. Weeks of uncertainty over procedure run into months. After a long, long time you can go to the Federa Police to pick up something resembling a plastic credit card that permits you to stay for ten years. Mine comes in an attractive shade of ochre.
In short, I believe it is easier to prove your innocence and escape corporal punishment in a minor African republic than it is to marry in Brazil.
Of course, the Governor and I kept it light and didn't even touch on any of these things. Instead, we discussed the jaw-dropping awfulness of Saturday morning tv and how to house-train Vietnamense pot-bellied piglets (a shared interest, I believe). Then I was hungry and excused myself to go and get some more popcorn.
And I was feeling at peace with the World having just come out of an afternoon showing of 'Friday the 13th'. It was Hallowe'en and I had been eight years old when the film was released and thus a little young to be watching people dying violent and grisly deaths. But with a belly full of toffee popcorn and with a finger rubbing away the final traces of the sugary snack from my incisors I crossed the foyer of the shopping mall and introduced myself. I knew the Governor must be a people person the way he was sat prominently in the foyer with no security. I presume protocol exists for these things and, born iconoclast that I am, I went ahead and breached it.
I cannot vote here. I would if I could, but I can't. I have a permanent visa here, indeed am totally legal. Mrs Beaumont is Brazilian. You cannot imagine, you really cannot imagine, the jaw-dropping complexity of marrying in Brazil. I needed papers issuing in Britain from a minister of religion that I was a person free to marry. Since I didn'y know any ministers of religion, I had to get my Mum to obtain this. I won't even start to tell you what you have to do to get a university degree revalidated in Brazil. That's a whole different blog.
When you fly over to Brazil, you enter on a tourist's visa. Within three months you have to report to the Federal Police to apply for a permanente visa. I am a lttle fuzzy on the details, frankly, but I am sure that, as part of the process, you have to provide lots of documents that have been issued in your country of origin, stamped by a Notary Public, brought to Brazil, translated by An Official Translator (don't even think of skipping this part, neither the translation nor the officialdom), turn up at the church, say "sim" during all appropriate pauses, ensure a true aim when going in for the kiss, then set up home together. A Federal Police officer will then come and visit you to make sure this is not a sham wedding. Weeks of uncertainty over procedure run into months. After a long, long time you can go to the Federa Police to pick up something resembling a plastic credit card that permits you to stay for ten years. Mine comes in an attractive shade of ochre.
In short, I believe it is easier to prove your innocence and escape corporal punishment in a minor African republic than it is to marry in Brazil.
Of course, the Governor and I kept it light and didn't even touch on any of these things. Instead, we discussed the jaw-dropping awfulness of Saturday morning tv and how to house-train Vietnamense pot-bellied piglets (a shared interest, I believe). Then I was hungry and excused myself to go and get some more popcorn.
Sunday, 1 November 2015
What to Do with Abandoned Wild Birds
Just before I left the UK to return to Brazil this week I got a call from an old friend. I have just spent the most mrvellous few weeks on assignment in my hometown. I met lots of friends I was in school with and spent the most time in the UK that I have spent in 13 years.
One of the friends that I met lives locally with her sisters. We hadn't seen each other for years. Anyway, knowing my background sheasked what to do with an abandoned, injured Magpie. Her call raised a number of issues.
Because the bird was alone, she assumed it was an inexperienced chick or first-year bird that had perhaps fallen from its nest and could not be found by its mother. Naturalists will tell you this is seldom the case and that
Much of the time people in the UK find tawny owl chicks and the above guidelenes appy in such cases.
One of the friends that I met lives locally with her sisters. We hadn't seen each other for years. Anyway, knowing my background sheasked what to do with an abandoned, injured Magpie. Her call raised a number of issues.
- First, giving advice over the telefone. Clinical cases need to be seen.
Because the bird was alone, she assumed it was an inexperienced chick or first-year bird that had perhaps fallen from its nest and could not be found by its mother. Naturalists will tell you this is seldom the case and that
- the bird should be left alone because usually its parents will return to feed it.
- If injured, then that is a different matter and the bird should be taken to a vet.
- If the bird has already been picked up and removed from where you found it, and if it is uninjured, take it back where you found it in good time because its parents may be looking for it.
- In the UK it could be a pest species, but that issue is beyond the scope of this article.
Much of the time people in the UK find tawny owl chicks and the above guidelenes appy in such cases.
Saturday, 31 October 2015
Brazil's São Paulo Guarulhos and Congonhas: the No-Sweat Guide to Navigating its Airports
I was talking to a friend, a successful buinesswoman, in Britain last week who was reluctant to visit Brazil because she said she found the country's airports intimidating. Specifically, the fact that there are two airports in São Paulo confused her. She is right to feel confused. São Paulo is truly an important city, one of the biggest and busiest in the World, and all international flights arrive there first, and not the capital, Brasília, I believe. I can remember having had a similar conversation with a conservation scientist I once worked wih in Mauritius. Mauritius' airport, though, had the charming, if unpronounceable, name of Sir Seewoosagur Ramgoolam International Airport and overlooks a lush volcanic landscape. São Paulo's airport is the Shrek of airport architecture, cute and big, and has the added advantage that at least you can say its name after a few beers - GRU which, usefully, is also its international airport code, you know, the one that travel agents use.
Maureen (Mo) was confused by the need for two airports in one city. As far as I can make out, São Guarulhos - Shrek Airport as I like to call it - handles international flights and Congonhas handles domestic flights. I keep wanting to call Congonhas Cegonhas, which means 'storks' in Portuguese.
Such is Brazil's geography that Congonhas seems to handle shuttle flights between São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro whilst Shrek handles The Rest Of The World. Many people in Rio seem to spend their days using shades, Hawaiian shirts and swimming trunks, whilst a lot of people from São Paulo use suits and briefcases. Thus it makes sense to have an airport wholly dedicated to the trasnportation of all those flip-flops and brogues.
And one more thing. If you come to Brazil, and you should because they make a drink here called 'Little Country Girl' aka caipirinha and it is heaven in a glass, then be prepared for the fact that you will have to collect all your hold baggage at São Paulo Guarulhos on landing. Even if you are not staying in Saõ Paulo but are in transit to another city in Brazil. Yes, you read that right. Allow plenty of time when booking your flights between Saõ Paulo and your onward destination because your luggage will not be transferred on to your onward flight. Boa viagem!
Maureen (Mo) was confused by the need for two airports in one city. As far as I can make out, São Guarulhos - Shrek Airport as I like to call it - handles international flights and Congonhas handles domestic flights. I keep wanting to call Congonhas Cegonhas, which means 'storks' in Portuguese.
Such is Brazil's geography that Congonhas seems to handle shuttle flights between São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro whilst Shrek handles The Rest Of The World. Many people in Rio seem to spend their days using shades, Hawaiian shirts and swimming trunks, whilst a lot of people from São Paulo use suits and briefcases. Thus it makes sense to have an airport wholly dedicated to the trasnportation of all those flip-flops and brogues.
And one more thing. If you come to Brazil, and you should because they make a drink here called 'Little Country Girl' aka caipirinha and it is heaven in a glass, then be prepared for the fact that you will have to collect all your hold baggage at São Paulo Guarulhos on landing. Even if you are not staying in Saõ Paulo but are in transit to another city in Brazil. Yes, you read that right. Allow plenty of time when booking your flights between Saõ Paulo and your onward destination because your luggage will not be transferred on to your onward flight. Boa viagem!
Wednesday, 28 October 2015
How to... Get the Right Crutch Size
Introduction
I have decided with this blog to write about my life and life in general with all its trials and tribulations. That is, any problem that I face, that I solve and that can possibly help you, the reader, should you be unfortunate enough to find yourself in a similar situation.
Today is going to be quick. I had to take my son in to get fitted for a new pair of crutches. He is nine and had outgrown the others that he has been using for the last year. So we managed to find a shop that stocked them and we took him for a fitting.
Children`s crutches come with a handle amd the handle should reach the child`s wrist.
Told you I`d be quick!
Friday, 23 October 2015
How to be a Blogger, Choose a Work Placement and more...
Introduction
I was talking with one of my readers last night and we discussed how, to be a blogger, you should write every day. The conversation stimulated me into putting finger to keyboard once more.
This is because, as you may have noticed, I had disappeared into the ether for two months. There is a reason for my truancy. I have been completing my course.
To do so, I came back home to my native Britain. The first four and a half years I studied in Brazil. As you know, of course, if you are a regular reader of this (and if not, why not?) I have been studying in Brazilian Portuguese, a language I learned in the street - that is to say, by ear.
But I am pleased to say that I never fell prey to that classic mistake many language learners experience to their chagrin. I have usually managed to avoid using offensive language. What remains nearly completely beyond my comprehension, even after 12 years, is idiomatic experessions, for example, `Ingles para ingles ver`.
What is easy to learn are swear words, because the little boy in me loves to learn them (with a relative being ex-military, dissent in the family ranks was never tolerated in my youth). But of course I rarely repeat them. Of course not. Never. Not me.
So I hope it makes sense when I say that I wanted to spend the final semester of my course back in Britain (good Old Blighty) to re-learn my own language, strange though that no doubt sounds. You see, duing four and a half years at Vets` school in Brazil this Britisher acquired almost every veterinary textbook and dictionary published, anywhere, ever, in English and Portuguese. Yet still gaps remained in my knowledge, some caused by confusion due to my knowledge acquisition being lost in translation.
So I came home and spent the longest period on these shores for 12 years. And it has been glorious. I don`t mean the weather. I mean the people. Sure, the first few weeks I was at a clinic seeing practice where I was almost entirely ignored. Okay, I did not expect the red carpet treatment, because it was largely them doing me the favour, but nevertheless a hint of friendliness, as opposed to near-indifference, would have been nice. I am exaggerating, but only slightly.
Then I was switched to a different branch of the same practice, and things could not have been better. By the second day I was given meaningful tasks to do, and by the third I had performed surgery by myself. I am highly appreciative of the cat`s involuntary participation in this surgery. Even though there is no doubt whatsover in my mind that I am now bttom of said cat`s Christmas card list, having surgically ruined his marriage prospects.
My best advice I can give to anyone thinking of doing veterinary medicine is that it is all about people. I have made some brilliant new friends over the past few days.
So how do you choose a work placement that is right for you, no matter what your course? For me I have always been most settled in friendly atmospheres. As one vet said to me, if you have a chance to visit a practice, try to observe the way the support staff interact with each other as that can be an excellent indicator of the working environment and atmosphere.
Sunday, 2 August 2015
Lions
Panthera leo has been in the news recently and I thought it would be a consciousness-raiser and useful thought experiment to consider some of the issues involved. I am not a lawyer but a conservation biologist at vets' school.
For a foreign hunter to act lawfully, if s/he is travelling to foreign soil carrying a weapon, to leave the home state and country with the weapon of choice, the owner presumably has to have a licence to carry the weapon and a licence to own it. Also perhaps a licence to take it out of the country, perhaps even the state, and the right paperwork to bring it into the Sub-Saharan country involved. And I presume the right paperwork stating the tour operator, the location of hunting, the quarry, the hunting method and receipt for fees paid and paperwork for trophy export.
Ethical hunting
Let's assume that the tour operator is a legal entity. Any professional association connected with regulating the activity and keeping standards up will most likely have a code of ethics that member tour operators are obliged to adhere to.
Hunting is not necessarily cruel per-se if the hunter can ensure adequate shot-placement with a weapon of sufficient calibre, thus ensuring a clean kill and instant death. If those conditions are not met the act is unethical and, depending upon country, hunting may be illegal anyway.
Lion Conservation
The lion exists in several countries in Sub-Saharan Africa. In some it is classified as Panthera leo melanochaita, and although it faces several threats, in some of these couunties it is increasing.
Some uses of the lion as a natural resource can be considered beneficial under certain circumstances if well managed. When poorly managed, events take place that can be unethical, immoral and indefensible on many levels.
For a foreign hunter to act lawfully, if s/he is travelling to foreign soil carrying a weapon, to leave the home state and country with the weapon of choice, the owner presumably has to have a licence to carry the weapon and a licence to own it. Also perhaps a licence to take it out of the country, perhaps even the state, and the right paperwork to bring it into the Sub-Saharan country involved. And I presume the right paperwork stating the tour operator, the location of hunting, the quarry, the hunting method and receipt for fees paid and paperwork for trophy export.
Ethical hunting
Let's assume that the tour operator is a legal entity. Any professional association connected with regulating the activity and keeping standards up will most likely have a code of ethics that member tour operators are obliged to adhere to.
Hunting is not necessarily cruel per-se if the hunter can ensure adequate shot-placement with a weapon of sufficient calibre, thus ensuring a clean kill and instant death. If those conditions are not met the act is unethical and, depending upon country, hunting may be illegal anyway.
Lion Conservation
The lion exists in several countries in Sub-Saharan Africa. In some it is classified as Panthera leo melanochaita, and although it faces several threats, in some of these couunties it is increasing.
Some uses of the lion as a natural resource can be considered beneficial under certain circumstances if well managed. When poorly managed, events take place that can be unethical, immoral and indefensible on many levels.
Saturday, 1 August 2015
Razorback Musk Turtles
This species, Sternotherus carinatus, is common and widespread in many different habitats - slow and fast-moving bodies of water and ponds and lakes in its natural range.
It is presumably easily bred in captivity by aquarists judging by the ease with which it is obtainable in pet shops in the UK.
Sexing
The tail of males is longer and thinner than it is in females. Claws, too.
Veterinary problems.
The most common ones are likely to be trauma from falls due to lack of care and attention when cleaning the aquariam out. In the event of concern, the animal should be taken to the vet as soon as possible.
It is presumably easily bred in captivity by aquarists judging by the ease with which it is obtainable in pet shops in the UK.
Sexing
The tail of males is longer and thinner than it is in females. Claws, too.
Veterinary problems.
The most common ones are likely to be trauma from falls due to lack of care and attention when cleaning the aquariam out. In the event of concern, the animal should be taken to the vet as soon as possible.
 |
| Razorback Musk Turtle Sternotherus carinatus with red mass projecting from left side of the beak. This alteration followed a trauma, a fall of over a metre. The animal was not taken to a veterianrian despite being advised to do so. The question remains what is the mass that is protruding. |
Wednesday, 29 July 2015
What are the Biggest Challenges in Wild Animal Medicine.
I received this question as a text message this morning from a fellow student of Veterinary Medicine here in Central Western Brazil. This is a good questionand to try to condense it into a blog article is quite a challenge. It is a good job that I like challenges.
You can tackle this issue from as many different angles as you like. Some issues are as follows:
From the vet's point of view if it is a dangerous animal it is going to have to be sedated. This needs to be done appropriately. Getting the right dosage depends upon knowing the patient's weight. In a developed country it may not be too difficult to acquire sedation equipment and to liaise, using a reliable and clear telephone line, with vets who have the necessary experience. They can refer the vet to the literature, or offer tips. Or if the practice specialises in wildife then there may already be an in-house body of knowledge that can be drawn upon.
If the patient is being treated in an emerging economy then the practice may not specialise in wildlife, may not have an in-house body of knowledge to draw upon, may have limited ability to access foreign- or English-language clinical/surgical literature or case studies, the necessary sedation equipment (blowpipe) may be in the hands of one individual who may be unavailable.
Veterinarians have a duty of care to animals regardless of species or level of endangerment. However, if the animal is a protected species - and in the case of Brazil all wildlife species are protected by law - then in the majority of circumstances it has to be collected post-treatment by a government biologist for rehabiliation and release. I won't discuss methods of release - hard and soft; these are beyond the scope of this article. If the animal has a notificable disease and/or a zoonosis such as rabies, then there may be no question but to seek the advice of colleagues before taking further measures.
Post-treatment care.
If you are in Brazil, then I have already dealt with this above. The patient will most likely have been brought in by a government biologist or other authority and will be collected by the same person. Then the patient may be taken to a holding facility until such time that it can be taken into the wild for release. Usually these would be hard releases (the animal is freed and left to fend for itself) rather than soft release where the animal is provided with some sort of relief such as shelter or food and water. Post-release survival rates are difficult to monitor.
If in an industrialised country such as the United Kingdom, then the species may be a pest species (Red Fox Vulpes vulpes), protected but not threatened (Badger Meles meles) or protected and endangered (Red Kite Milvus milvus). Such cases require different approaches.
Take-home Notes
"Happiness depends more on the inward disposition of mind than on outward circumstances." Benjamin Franklin.
You can tackle this issue from as many different angles as you like. Some issues are as follows:
- Species
- Veterinarian's experience with the species
- What is the background to the case - why has the animal been brought into the clinic?
- Does the animal have a notifiable disease
- Is the animal an endangered species
- Is it a dangerous animal
- What country is the treatment taking place in
- Is there much published information on the animal
- If a young animal, is it going to need feeding on milk and what kind of formula should be used?
From the vet's point of view if it is a dangerous animal it is going to have to be sedated. This needs to be done appropriately. Getting the right dosage depends upon knowing the patient's weight. In a developed country it may not be too difficult to acquire sedation equipment and to liaise, using a reliable and clear telephone line, with vets who have the necessary experience. They can refer the vet to the literature, or offer tips. Or if the practice specialises in wildife then there may already be an in-house body of knowledge that can be drawn upon.
If the patient is being treated in an emerging economy then the practice may not specialise in wildlife, may not have an in-house body of knowledge to draw upon, may have limited ability to access foreign- or English-language clinical/surgical literature or case studies, the necessary sedation equipment (blowpipe) may be in the hands of one individual who may be unavailable.
Veterinarians have a duty of care to animals regardless of species or level of endangerment. However, if the animal is a protected species - and in the case of Brazil all wildlife species are protected by law - then in the majority of circumstances it has to be collected post-treatment by a government biologist for rehabiliation and release. I won't discuss methods of release - hard and soft; these are beyond the scope of this article. If the animal has a notificable disease and/or a zoonosis such as rabies, then there may be no question but to seek the advice of colleagues before taking further measures.
Post-treatment care.
If you are in Brazil, then I have already dealt with this above. The patient will most likely have been brought in by a government biologist or other authority and will be collected by the same person. Then the patient may be taken to a holding facility until such time that it can be taken into the wild for release. Usually these would be hard releases (the animal is freed and left to fend for itself) rather than soft release where the animal is provided with some sort of relief such as shelter or food and water. Post-release survival rates are difficult to monitor.
If in an industrialised country such as the United Kingdom, then the species may be a pest species (Red Fox Vulpes vulpes), protected but not threatened (Badger Meles meles) or protected and endangered (Red Kite Milvus milvus). Such cases require different approaches.
Take-home Notes
- Unweaned very young mammalian patients will need to be raised on milk substitute made up using the right formula.
- In many countries the exotic pet trade is barely recognised and wild out-patients will be taken by the authorities for release.
- If the animal has a notifiable disease then liaise with colleagues.
- Make sure the medical team, and patient, are safe before dealing with the wild patient.
- All wild animals are unpredictable.
"Happiness depends more on the inward disposition of mind than on outward circumstances." Benjamin Franklin.
Tuesday, 28 July 2015
Do or do not. There is no 'try'! (Scroll down for source).
Today we talk about the importance of collaboration between professionals. I did something yesterday that mildly surprised me. I introduced myself as a Conservaton Biologist soon to qualify as a Veterinarian. And won an audience with the zoovet at Cuiabá zoo. Today I am due to revisit the animal facility of the Brazilian Environmental Police. You can do these things when you are a veterinary student. I couldn't say whether being foreign confers any advantage, but self-belief makes all the difference.
I have been giving some thought as to whether or not to use physical or chemical restraint on a jaguar cub that I will examine for the second time today. All indicators are that physical restraint is the only option. Because this visit has generated considerable interest - among my professor and peers. The professors want me to take two residents with me in order to take a bood sample. Residents are qualified veterianrians, and when I rang Jaddy yesterday - a young woman I studied with for five years and who now works in the Small Animal Clinic at the Veterinary Hospital in Cuiabá, she said that we would have to use physical restraint since chemical would envolve obtaining authorisation from the professor - most of whom are travelling or unavailable.
I then went and introduced myself to the zoovet at the federal university here in Cuiabá. If for no other reason than to hopefully get some hints from her about how she would go about examing a jaguar cub. She didn't tell me anything that I didn't already know, but it was nice at least to be able to out a name to a face. I got another contact, I got a web site from her and now know where I can get specialist equipment from in-country for restraining wild animal patients. Some might say "Why are you revealing your plans to others"?
Well, I am by nature an open and honest person and I enjoy meeting fellow colleagues and making new contacts. Life is all about being sociable and anyway, I consider it an exciting privilegie to be entering the veterinary profession.
Today's motivational quote is from a hilarious source: Yoda! "Do or do not. There is no 'try'".
I have been giving some thought as to whether or not to use physical or chemical restraint on a jaguar cub that I will examine for the second time today. All indicators are that physical restraint is the only option. Because this visit has generated considerable interest - among my professor and peers. The professors want me to take two residents with me in order to take a bood sample. Residents are qualified veterianrians, and when I rang Jaddy yesterday - a young woman I studied with for five years and who now works in the Small Animal Clinic at the Veterinary Hospital in Cuiabá, she said that we would have to use physical restraint since chemical would envolve obtaining authorisation from the professor - most of whom are travelling or unavailable.
I then went and introduced myself to the zoovet at the federal university here in Cuiabá. If for no other reason than to hopefully get some hints from her about how she would go about examing a jaguar cub. She didn't tell me anything that I didn't already know, but it was nice at least to be able to out a name to a face. I got another contact, I got a web site from her and now know where I can get specialist equipment from in-country for restraining wild animal patients. Some might say "Why are you revealing your plans to others"?
Well, I am by nature an open and honest person and I enjoy meeting fellow colleagues and making new contacts. Life is all about being sociable and anyway, I consider it an exciting privilegie to be entering the veterinary profession.
Today's motivational quote is from a hilarious source: Yoda! "Do or do not. There is no 'try'".
Monday, 27 July 2015
Expatriates' Guide to Making Compost
Compost-making when you live in the Tropics can be a real challenge. Where do you buy a composter? And can dog muck be thrown in? Yes, I had to deal with all kinds of cringeworthy issues once I had decided to become an eco-correct gardener. You see, when I bought my house it came with a jungle in the back garden - about four trees, I think. I lost count after gettig lost out there two or three times. But here is the thing - Mrs Beaumont and I had bought our house in leafy suburbia. So we were not the only ones with Triffids in the back garden.
But I could not bring myself to do what everybody else seemed to be doing - dragging their garden refuse down the street and dumping it at the roadside. So I became the Compost King of my neighbourhood. I had a water tank in my back garden. It became a born-again, buck-shee composter. So how do you make compost.
Get a composter. I use water tanks. Add to it
Don't add
But I could not bring myself to do what everybody else seemed to be doing - dragging their garden refuse down the street and dumping it at the roadside. So I became the Compost King of my neighbourhood. I had a water tank in my back garden. It became a born-again, buck-shee composter. So how do you make compost.
Get a composter. I use water tanks. Add to it
- mown grass
- fallen leaves
- shredded paper
- fruit
- salad leaves
- water
Don't add
- bacon rind
- meat off-cuts
- pet excrement
Saturday, 25 July 2015
Business as a Transferable Skill for your Personal Life
I would like to thank Nilson Caldas for developing this article with me. It came about as a result of an English class and the content is too useful not to be shared. During the session we had a conversation on how certain essential business, not to mention sports, skills can be equally useful in our personal life, that is, transferable to our personal life. Here's a brief examination on the matter, the skills in all areas being
The World is made up questions, and you have to be prepared to answer them. If this seems a little nebulous, let's look at the language in detail. In business it is sometimes said that, whilst problems cannot be solved, issues can be. Hence some business people prefer to speak of "issues' rather than "problems".
Both business and sports involves strategy, leadership and team spirit. Both involve reaching targets and beating the competition to be successful.
All three, sport, business and your personal life, need a strategy.
In your professional, sporting and personal life, you have to come up with a sales pitch. To get a job, your sales pitch is your job interview. On a first potentially romantic encounter, it is your appearance and confidence level.
To be able to win a sports championship, you have to be able to present your winning strategy to all parties. To move house, pay for university, become self employed or book a holiday, you have to sell your ideas to your wife or girlfriend, children and/or friends.
All three involve important meetings. For instance when you decide to live together or get engaged, at some point you may feel the need to tell your next of kin.
Or when making certain lifestyle announcements - such as not being religious.
In business, sports and our personal lives we need to prepare for important meetings. We need to prepare notes before starting conversations, otherwise how can a wife, boss or team get answers to his/her/their questions?
And finally, motivation. We all need it. Some of us get it from family and friends. For some of us that is not an option.
Some get it from religious or non-religious leaders and communities. And some of us get it from motivational quotes. Such as this one by Earl Nightingale:
"Don't let the fear of the time it will take to accomplish something stand in the way of your doing it. The time will pass anyway; we might just as well put that passing time to the best possible use."
The use of motivational quotes is what got me through the penultimate semester of Vets' school!
Thanks for reading.
- preparation
- selling
- negotiating
- reaching a target
The World is made up questions, and you have to be prepared to answer them. If this seems a little nebulous, let's look at the language in detail. In business it is sometimes said that, whilst problems cannot be solved, issues can be. Hence some business people prefer to speak of "issues' rather than "problems".
Both business and sports involves strategy, leadership and team spirit. Both involve reaching targets and beating the competition to be successful.
All three, sport, business and your personal life, need a strategy.
In your professional, sporting and personal life, you have to come up with a sales pitch. To get a job, your sales pitch is your job interview. On a first potentially romantic encounter, it is your appearance and confidence level.
To be able to win a sports championship, you have to be able to present your winning strategy to all parties. To move house, pay for university, become self employed or book a holiday, you have to sell your ideas to your wife or girlfriend, children and/or friends.
All three involve important meetings. For instance when you decide to live together or get engaged, at some point you may feel the need to tell your next of kin.
Or when making certain lifestyle announcements - such as not being religious.
In business, sports and our personal lives we need to prepare for important meetings. We need to prepare notes before starting conversations, otherwise how can a wife, boss or team get answers to his/her/their questions?
And finally, motivation. We all need it. Some of us get it from family and friends. For some of us that is not an option.
Some get it from religious or non-religious leaders and communities. And some of us get it from motivational quotes. Such as this one by Earl Nightingale:
"Don't let the fear of the time it will take to accomplish something stand in the way of your doing it. The time will pass anyway; we might just as well put that passing time to the best possible use."
The use of motivational quotes is what got me through the penultimate semester of Vets' school!
Thanks for reading.
Leadership Skills Identified
I gave an English class to a private one-to-one client recently and we got talking about leadership. He is a Brazilian manager with a multinational business and for that reason needs to maintain his fluency. Especially since he has been transferred from São Paulo, which is a World-renowned and very big city, to Cuiabá.
He encapsulated the skills so fluently that I just had to write them down here because I have been studying leadership for a long time. We divided them into two categories, Basic Leadership Skills and Advanced Leadership Skills.
Basic Leadership Skills include qualities such as these.
The leader needs to be
He encapsulated the skills so fluently that I just had to write them down here because I have been studying leadership for a long time. We divided them into two categories, Basic Leadership Skills and Advanced Leadership Skills.
Basic Leadership Skills include qualities such as these.
The leader needs to be
- a teacher
- loyal
- a psychologist
- fair
- able to like people
- able to foster team spirit
S/he can foster team spirit by
- using "we' not "I"
- have consversations
- listen
- give advice
- give feedback
- maintain eye contact
- be attentive.
Friday, 24 July 2015
Long Distance Relationships. Worth It?
My instint is to say "no,", but of course that is just me. "It depends," is the short answer.
The slightly longer answer involves knowing the background leading up to the situation.
If your relationship is strong enough, then the answer could be "yes." Many of us know that love goes through stages. Yesterday I wrote about how people need three things to be happy: job, social life and wife/girlfriend/boyfriend/husband. If you have the first two, and then you get involved with a man or woman from the other side of the World, then you need to think long and hard before changing job and ending na established social life.
Because if you do fall in love with someone from another country, and both people think the relationship is serious, then one or the other of you has to move in order to be with your loved one.
One question to ask yourself is whether or not your girlfriend or boyfriend speaks the same language as you. This is a major one. Because if one or the other emigrates to continue the relationship, you have to be damned sure the relationship can last through the hustle and bustle of relocation stress, language learning, getting a job, building a new social life, handling
funerals, dealing with religious and political differences, dealing with narcissists, learning telecommunications technology in a foreign language. Do you both want to have a family?
Because you know what? I have been there and done it. And I have come out of it thinking that relationships should be easy. To borrow an idea from an email I received from Harvard, there should be both cooperation and collaboration.
The University of Maryland did a study on what makes two people compatible. It has to do with your emotional responses to situations. There are about 50 different things that the study came up with. Certainky none that I had ever thought of before.
Like I say, a relationship should be easy. It is hard enough gettting it right with someone from your own culture and background. I don't believe that you should have to work too hard at it. It should be about having fun.
Once I was having a conversation with two men at a conference lunch. They were good friends and about the same age, late forties or early fifties. One was telling me how the other was about to leave the UK to be with his girlfriend in Venezuela. I often wonder how he go on. I think that if you are
considering giving up your lifestyle for love in another country, then you have to think very hard about whether or not you have an established social life in the city where you live. And are you prepared to lose that social life and potentially lose your friends?
The slightly longer answer involves knowing the background leading up to the situation.
If your relationship is strong enough, then the answer could be "yes." Many of us know that love goes through stages. Yesterday I wrote about how people need three things to be happy: job, social life and wife/girlfriend/boyfriend/husband. If you have the first two, and then you get involved with a man or woman from the other side of the World, then you need to think long and hard before changing job and ending na established social life.
Because if you do fall in love with someone from another country, and both people think the relationship is serious, then one or the other of you has to move in order to be with your loved one.
One question to ask yourself is whether or not your girlfriend or boyfriend speaks the same language as you. This is a major one. Because if one or the other emigrates to continue the relationship, you have to be damned sure the relationship can last through the hustle and bustle of relocation stress, language learning, getting a job, building a new social life, handling
funerals, dealing with religious and political differences, dealing with narcissists, learning telecommunications technology in a foreign language. Do you both want to have a family?
Because you know what? I have been there and done it. And I have come out of it thinking that relationships should be easy. To borrow an idea from an email I received from Harvard, there should be both cooperation and collaboration.
The University of Maryland did a study on what makes two people compatible. It has to do with your emotional responses to situations. There are about 50 different things that the study came up with. Certainky none that I had ever thought of before.
Like I say, a relationship should be easy. It is hard enough gettting it right with someone from your own culture and background. I don't believe that you should have to work too hard at it. It should be about having fun.
Once I was having a conversation with two men at a conference lunch. They were good friends and about the same age, late forties or early fifties. One was telling me how the other was about to leave the UK to be with his girlfriend in Venezuela. I often wonder how he go on. I think that if you are
considering giving up your lifestyle for love in another country, then you have to think very hard about whether or not you have an established social life in the city where you live. And are you prepared to lose that social life and potentially lose your friends?
Thursday, 23 July 2015
Mens' Lifestyle and Happiness Tutorial
When I write 'men' I mean young men who may be younger than 18. 18 is the age at which in th eyes of the law people become adults. But in evolutonary biology and evolutionary psychology some males reach sexual, emotional and social maturity sooner than others. This is obvious.
Here in Brazil there is a Portuguese-language magazine called 'Veja'. It features interviews with a surprising number of foreign intellectuals. Mrs Beaumont buys it on a regular basis and I usually can't resist a casual flick-through. Last week's edition caught my eye because it was by a British economist and it was about happiness. The essence was 'what makes people happy'. For a man to be happy - and we are talking about a man's evolutionary psychology here - he needs three things. These are
I consider the very best PUAs (Pick Up Artists) as analysts. So let us analyse a key área to attend to to in order to get a girlfriend. This follows on from the recente article of the same title. Body language. You should stand up straight, like there is a cord in your chest, attached to the chest's sternal angle, pulling you up. I talk about the sternal angle because I think this is the best place for you to visualize.
Head. Hold it up. This needs more explanation. Which leads me on to
Eyes. When in a mixed (men and women) social situation, give some thought as to who the tallest men are. Make relaxed eye contact with these men, and don't forget to maintain it with the brashest, most confident, assertive, aggressive or narcissitic males in the group. But be casual about it and ready to laugh at yourself if they make jokes about you with women present. Because the woman you are interested in will be watching your reaction. Cool, calm, and collected is what you should be, with a relaxed sense of humour. That is, socially intellugent.
The woman's evolutionary psychology has evolved to be attracted to this behaviour. The men in the group should take 60% of your body language's attention in a social interaction, and the women present, 40%. Of course this is not a hard and fast rule; social situations are dynamic. But until the social dynamic of the group changes, that is a good guideline.
And here is what is important. The moment you changed from looking to the man to looking at the woman when she speaks in the group, then that is a natural angle at which to hold your head. At this moment your eye musculature will be 'social', that, relaxed. Brilliant! You are demonstrataing social intelligence through your body language.
Eye contact is vital in an interaction with a woman. It should be relaxed. I won't go into musculature of the eyes, it is complicated and unnecessary. But you should not look down in your interaction with your woman. A woman's evolutinary psychology interprets this, on a subliminal level, as weakness. Weakness is the opposite of strength, and a woman wants strength from her man. In this case, by 'strength' I mean that you should be aiming to vanquish from your body language signs of a lack of confidence. By looking to the sides when you break eye contact, this one way that your eyes can convey strength/confidence. And when moving your eyeballs, do it slowly.
The group's social dynamic will change. When you are able to talk on a more individual level with the woman, when listening to her and trying to inject more humour and flirtation into the interaction, try and find reason to use a cocked eyebrow. This advice will maintain your head and eyes moving the way they need to be in a social interaction, whether you are standing or sitting. There is more to be said on body language. For now, thank you for reading.
A word of caution to help you develop your social intelligence. Beware if there is a narcissist presente. Narcissism exists along a spectrum. Now, if the group perceives that you are interested in somebody in it, you can expect some jokes about it to your face. But that should be all. If, however, one person starts to go over the top, is persistent to the point of being antissocial or even going beyond a koje and being isulting, that could be a sign of narcissism. I was subjected to it for the first hlaf of the year. Indeed, it is one reason I started the blog. There is a way to deal with it, but my advice is to use the maximum discretion in the interaction with the girl you like at that particular time.
Here in Brazil there is a Portuguese-language magazine called 'Veja'. It features interviews with a surprising number of foreign intellectuals. Mrs Beaumont buys it on a regular basis and I usually can't resist a casual flick-through. Last week's edition caught my eye because it was by a British economist and it was about happiness. The essence was 'what makes people happy'. For a man to be happy - and we are talking about a man's evolutionary psychology here - he needs three things. These are
- a social life
- an occupation
- a wife or girlfriend
I consider the very best PUAs (Pick Up Artists) as analysts. So let us analyse a key área to attend to to in order to get a girlfriend. This follows on from the recente article of the same title. Body language. You should stand up straight, like there is a cord in your chest, attached to the chest's sternal angle, pulling you up. I talk about the sternal angle because I think this is the best place for you to visualize.
Head. Hold it up. This needs more explanation. Which leads me on to
Eyes. When in a mixed (men and women) social situation, give some thought as to who the tallest men are. Make relaxed eye contact with these men, and don't forget to maintain it with the brashest, most confident, assertive, aggressive or narcissitic males in the group. But be casual about it and ready to laugh at yourself if they make jokes about you with women present. Because the woman you are interested in will be watching your reaction. Cool, calm, and collected is what you should be, with a relaxed sense of humour. That is, socially intellugent.
The woman's evolutionary psychology has evolved to be attracted to this behaviour. The men in the group should take 60% of your body language's attention in a social interaction, and the women present, 40%. Of course this is not a hard and fast rule; social situations are dynamic. But until the social dynamic of the group changes, that is a good guideline.
And here is what is important. The moment you changed from looking to the man to looking at the woman when she speaks in the group, then that is a natural angle at which to hold your head. At this moment your eye musculature will be 'social', that, relaxed. Brilliant! You are demonstrataing social intelligence through your body language.
Eye contact is vital in an interaction with a woman. It should be relaxed. I won't go into musculature of the eyes, it is complicated and unnecessary. But you should not look down in your interaction with your woman. A woman's evolutinary psychology interprets this, on a subliminal level, as weakness. Weakness is the opposite of strength, and a woman wants strength from her man. In this case, by 'strength' I mean that you should be aiming to vanquish from your body language signs of a lack of confidence. By looking to the sides when you break eye contact, this one way that your eyes can convey strength/confidence. And when moving your eyeballs, do it slowly.
The group's social dynamic will change. When you are able to talk on a more individual level with the woman, when listening to her and trying to inject more humour and flirtation into the interaction, try and find reason to use a cocked eyebrow. This advice will maintain your head and eyes moving the way they need to be in a social interaction, whether you are standing or sitting. There is more to be said on body language. For now, thank you for reading.
A word of caution to help you develop your social intelligence. Beware if there is a narcissist presente. Narcissism exists along a spectrum. Now, if the group perceives that you are interested in somebody in it, you can expect some jokes about it to your face. But that should be all. If, however, one person starts to go over the top, is persistent to the point of being antissocial or even going beyond a koje and being isulting, that could be a sign of narcissism. I was subjected to it for the first hlaf of the year. Indeed, it is one reason I started the blog. There is a way to deal with it, but my advice is to use the maximum discretion in the interaction with the girl you like at that particular time.
Wild Jaguars (Panthera onca): Ecotourism and Habituation
Today I want to conclude with big cats, but, first, it has been an actioned packed few days. My computer broke last week, which is why I have not been posting. But now we are back on-line and intend to focus in on two áreas that seem of great interest to the readership in future articles: the environment, and your environment, that is, your relationships. So let's get started with the first.
Last week Mrs Beaumont gave me a special treat for finishing the first part of the clincial year at university. We booked a Jaguar (Panthera onca) safari to the Pantanal, specifically to Porto Jofre (PJ). It's the weirdest place. You drive along a dirt track through the jungle for three hours and then you come to an airstrip and a river and the road stops. A word on me and jungles: they don't scare me; they fascinate me. I am not put off by the heat, the unpredictability of logistics or the biting inescts. I am too fascinated by the diversity of life around me, and excited by the prospect of what could be slithering around the next corner. I have studied jungles like pick up artists study women. Yes, jungles turn me on (but not in that way). So do big cats.
I have seen Swamp Cats (Felis chaus) in Isreal, Clouded Leopards (Neofelis nebulosa) in Malaysia and, in the Pantanal of Brazil, Pumas (Puma concolor) and Ocelots (Felis pardalis).
Zoo Vets' Casebook: I have carried out physical examinations on two Brazilian cats and here's what I learned
So on Saturday night we were in a clean-but-basic guest house in Poconé and at 3am Sunday morning we were in the pick-up on our way to PJ. We got there and were in the boat by 6:30am. There is something you need to know about the naturalist in me if you ever come on tour with me: I am hardcore. I like to be in position at 6am, not on my way at 6:30am. However, I was with other people and didn't want to argue.
Our guide, Junior, was anxious and I could tell this was his first such tour - we had booked a Jaguar Safari with him. He was probably curious as to why I was not marvelling at the nature around us. There is a very good reason for this. I have dedicated several years of my life to studying this regions's nature and today was for spotting Jaguars. So the Spectacled Caiman (Caiman crocodilus), the Jabiru Storks (Jabiru mycteria), even the Hyacinth Macaws (Anodorhynchus hyacinthinus), all were ignored today!
And the day delivered! I was expecting several split-second glimpses. After eight hours we rounded a bend in the river and there was a Jaguar standing on the river bank 20 metres away like a sheep! We followed him for two hours and watched as he stalked two Spectacled Caiman and two capivara, unsuccessfully. The boatman radioed colleagues and withi five minutes there were six boats and 50 tourists looking on.
Analysis. This kind of tourist is only possible three months of the year. Why? This is the Tropics, and we get two seasons here: the wet and dry. July, August and September is the dry season. Rainfall ceases. Riverine water levels drop, wildlife accumulates around dwindling water sources, and numbers of Capybara and Spectacled Caiman build up. That is the Jaguars' prey-bas right there. Jaguars are nocturnal, and this one was hunting in the heat of the afternoon. I have never seen a wild predator hunting so desperately. So this animal was hungry. I think the population must be incredibly dense, contributory factors being that the habitat is available and there is a prey base. I think the possibility that the PJ Jaguars have become habituated to the presence of humans is a certainty. And the perceived lack of regulation of ecotousism: is it imoral or unethical? Well, the only way to be sure is to study hunt/stalk success rates in the wild, and that would be really hard to do. Another way would be to radiocollar individuals to see if those hunting in non-crowded conditons enjoy a greater frequency of hunting success than those habituated animals having to do their hunting surrounded by onlookers.
People. From what the guides told me, there are two Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) operating in the region.
Last week Mrs Beaumont gave me a special treat for finishing the first part of the clincial year at university. We booked a Jaguar (Panthera onca) safari to the Pantanal, specifically to Porto Jofre (PJ). It's the weirdest place. You drive along a dirt track through the jungle for three hours and then you come to an airstrip and a river and the road stops. A word on me and jungles: they don't scare me; they fascinate me. I am not put off by the heat, the unpredictability of logistics or the biting inescts. I am too fascinated by the diversity of life around me, and excited by the prospect of what could be slithering around the next corner. I have studied jungles like pick up artists study women. Yes, jungles turn me on (but not in that way). So do big cats.
I have seen Swamp Cats (Felis chaus) in Isreal, Clouded Leopards (Neofelis nebulosa) in Malaysia and, in the Pantanal of Brazil, Pumas (Puma concolor) and Ocelots (Felis pardalis).
Zoo Vets' Casebook: I have carried out physical examinations on two Brazilian cats and here's what I learned
- Ocelots: they are sneaky. They swipe and bite your Achilles' tendo. Use chain saw leggings!
- Jaguar cubs: you can begin a partial examination with a three-month old, usin physcial restraint. I am joking. Use chemical restraint otherwise you may be wasting your time.
So on Saturday night we were in a clean-but-basic guest house in Poconé and at 3am Sunday morning we were in the pick-up on our way to PJ. We got there and were in the boat by 6:30am. There is something you need to know about the naturalist in me if you ever come on tour with me: I am hardcore. I like to be in position at 6am, not on my way at 6:30am. However, I was with other people and didn't want to argue.
Our guide, Junior, was anxious and I could tell this was his first such tour - we had booked a Jaguar Safari with him. He was probably curious as to why I was not marvelling at the nature around us. There is a very good reason for this. I have dedicated several years of my life to studying this regions's nature and today was for spotting Jaguars. So the Spectacled Caiman (Caiman crocodilus), the Jabiru Storks (Jabiru mycteria), even the Hyacinth Macaws (Anodorhynchus hyacinthinus), all were ignored today!
And the day delivered! I was expecting several split-second glimpses. After eight hours we rounded a bend in the river and there was a Jaguar standing on the river bank 20 metres away like a sheep! We followed him for two hours and watched as he stalked two Spectacled Caiman and two capivara, unsuccessfully. The boatman radioed colleagues and withi five minutes there were six boats and 50 tourists looking on.
Analysis. This kind of tourist is only possible three months of the year. Why? This is the Tropics, and we get two seasons here: the wet and dry. July, August and September is the dry season. Rainfall ceases. Riverine water levels drop, wildlife accumulates around dwindling water sources, and numbers of Capybara and Spectacled Caiman build up. That is the Jaguars' prey-bas right there. Jaguars are nocturnal, and this one was hunting in the heat of the afternoon. I have never seen a wild predator hunting so desperately. So this animal was hungry. I think the population must be incredibly dense, contributory factors being that the habitat is available and there is a prey base. I think the possibility that the PJ Jaguars have become habituated to the presence of humans is a certainty. And the perceived lack of regulation of ecotousism: is it imoral or unethical? Well, the only way to be sure is to study hunt/stalk success rates in the wild, and that would be really hard to do. Another way would be to radiocollar individuals to see if those hunting in non-crowded conditons enjoy a greater frequency of hunting success than those habituated animals having to do their hunting surrounded by onlookers.
People. From what the guides told me, there are two Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) operating in the region.
- Panthera is American and the content of its web site states that it is involved in a Jaguar corridor project. The guide pointed out its buildings along the river. I wanted to drop in but they sais the place is closed to the public. On the way out for the afternoon I said to the boatman that I wanted to stop there, He agreed but when the time was right I could no longer be bothered with introductions, I was too happy.
- Jaguar Research Center. These seem to be involved with identification of identification of individual animals.
Tuesday, 14 July 2015
How to Get a Girlfriend
Part One – Your clothes.
Strength is what women want. All that follows is to help you work towards that. And it has many meanings. In the context of becoming a modern alpha male it means demonstrating the masculine forms of emotional and social intelligence.
Firstly you have to look – and sound - your best. We will start on clothes and then deal with body language.
You have to dress well. So let us progress our lesson by going on a virtual shopping trip together. You have to dress in such a way that you look as tall as you can. This may involve you obtaining some new outfits and perhaps changing the content of your wardrobe. Certain clothes combinations can help you to do this. I wear black jeans with black shoes. This combination of black helps to achieve the desired effect of making you look taller. You should polish your shoes. On your top half you should wear a white, or light-coloured, t-shirt. This t-shirt should be of the v-neck variety. It is more masculine. This is because it enhances the inverted triangle of the male torso. In other words, you want to use clothes that make your upper body take on an inverted triangular shape. This looks masculine. It communicates to women on a subliminal level. There is a science behind this. Two, actually. The sciences are evolutionary biology and applied evolutionary psychology.
If you have chest hair, consider removing that part of the neck exposed by a v-neck t-shirt. If you live in a temperate country, you may need to wear another layer in order to keep warm. This other layer should be slightly darker. The effect of dark-top-over-paler-undergarment achieves the effect of enhancing that masculine inverted-triangular torso. This was Part One. Tomorrow I will cover more. You can contact me on thecritterdoctor@hotmail.com or make a comment below.
Monday, 13 July 2015
How to Examine a Jaguar.
A better title would be' How to Restrain a Jaguar Cub'. Very recently I bumped into one of my lecturers at university. She told me that the State Department of the Environment had received two jaguar cubs. She didn’t know much more about them, except that one was docile and the other potentially dangerous. She mentioned it because she knows that my final year paper is going to be on wildlife and she was kind enough to pass me the telephone number of the man in charge. I gave him a call, explained that I was a final year student of veterinary medicine and that my final year project is on wildlife and that I would like to know if it was possible to carry out a physical examination on the jaguar cubs he is currently responsible for. To my delight he said next week.
The appointment is next week I firmly believe in seizing opportunities when they present themselves, and this occasion was no exception. It does present me with a number of challenges which I set out in the following thought experiment.
Some research on carrying out a clinical examination of a Jaguar has revealed very little on-line. My personal library on this occasion let me down. The Human Society’s Veterinary Medical Association has some useful material on-line regarding physical restraint methods designed to reduce stress for both patient and veterinarian.
When I was last home in the UK for Christmas my terrific parents took me to a hardware store after learning that I would be handling an Ocelot on my return to Brazil. They were worried that I would be mauled and bought me some equipment. Tomorrow I need to augment these purchases with some new equipment.
It is impossible to know in advance what circumstances I am going to encounter. My objective is to carry as full as clinical examination as possible, involving
·
History-taking
·
Weighing the animal
·
Checking eyes, ears and nose for secretions or
obstructions
·
What is the heart rate
·
What is the respiratory rate
·
Checking the pulse rate
·
Checking the colour of the mucosae
·
Body temperature
·
Lymph nodes for swellings, indicative of
disease.
·
Check teats for alterations.
·
Check Anus
·
Check tail.
·
Check skin.
·
What is the animal’s sex?
The physical examination begins whilst I am taking the animal’s history. I have to be able to approach the animal safely. I am going to have to be very careful because I have no experience with Jaguars and have to very carefully assess its weight-to-strength ratio. I don’t know how thick a Jaguar’s fur is, and it may be very time consuming to check its body condition if its fur is thick.
I hope you have enjoyed this article and found it interesting. For me it served as a valuable ‘thinking-through’ exercise. Right, I am off to buy a big net now.
Sunday, 12 July 2015
How to Be a Veterinarian
I have just finished the ninth semester of Vet’s School. I found it really hard, but not for the reasons you might think. You see, I am British born and raised, and when I was in my late twenties I moved to Brazil. After several adventures and projects, I took the university entrance exam in a language that I was not yet fully proficient at and yet managed to pass. Thus began six years of anxiety.
What I discovered was that you spend four years studying theory and one year of clinical practice before qualifying. I used to hate walking into the classroom with everybody staring at me. But I quickly made friends. I was able to keep up with the content. The difficulty was that the content was delivered in Portuguese, and I had only recently learned the language. One of the first skills I had to acquire was to increase my attention span. Then I had to figure out how I was going to study, because studying is a very personal thing and what works for me may not work for you. It was whilst reading Richard Dawkins’ autobiography that I picked up some study tips, but this was close to the end of my degree.
So I tried all kinds of approaches, such as noting everything the lecturer said (big mistake because it was exhausting and unfeasible and a bad way to study), to recording classes, to doing spider charts and algorithms and mind maps, to noting key words and then doing a lot of dictionary work. One of the best ways to study was to obtain the book on the reading list in both English and Portuguese.
It was when I entered the clinical year that I realised the four years of theory had been easy in comparison. During the previous semesters nobody cared if you were late, least of all the professors, or if you didn’t do the homework or you copied it the only person you were cheating was yourself.
Then I started the ninth semester and everything changed. The professors disappeared. I had to work in a team of eight people. My team did not speak my language. I could not participate in their jokes and I did not understand their slang. And they all spoke a the same time. And they were half my age. We had to do shifts. I had to have my mobile on me at all times for four months. And I was receiving 500 messages a day from my team. 490 were not important. The team leader demonstrated narcissistic tendencies. After three weeks I had an argument with her. That was a cathartic experience, and I had to think how I was going to deal with the rest of the five months. I developed a strategy.
I realised I would have to place myself at the bottom of the hierarchy if I was going to have any respect at all. I decided to always be visible, always be active, always be on hand and willing to help out no matter what. I decided to give total attention to the team leader, which was not easy because she never stopped talking and spoke too fast. I eneded up paying special attention to her tone to find out whether she was delegating or otherwise. I would take critiscisms without argument, act on instructions without comment. At night I would access the internet, find motivational quotes and print them out for taking to university the next day. My strategy became
·
Receive angry instruction
·
Read motivational quote
·
Breathe
·
Live in the moment
·
Start a blog.
·
Pay attention to body language
o
Neutral face
o
Chin in
o
Shoulders back
o
Direct eye contact
o
Stop nibbling inside mouth
Seems silly, doesn’t it, but it made the difference between the dark depths of depression and becoming a better man.
The fourth and final module was easier. There were no shifts, and I had fewer problems tackling the homework and getting up early. Now it is done, and there are graduation photo sessons, three months in the UK and the final paper. Today I am the happiest man alive!
My Bio. I have a Bachelor’s degree in Field Biology and Habitat Management, a Master’s degree in Conservation Biology and soon I will qualify as a Veterinary Surgeon with a major interest in wildlife veterinary medicine and surgery. You can contact me on thecritterdoctor@hotmail.com.
Saturday, 11 July 2015
Parrots
These birds belong in the family Psittacidae. They comprise the Macaws, Parrots, Parakeets and Cockatiels. They are a pantropical bird family, being found throughout the tropics. They are some of the most beautiful birds in the avian class. Some species are endangered.
Rarities
You have heard about the fact that the science of physics has its own laws. The science of ecology is just the same. It has its own laws. One of these is that island species are more vulnerable than continental ones. Therefore more likely to be classed as Threatened or Endangered. One of the best examples is Mauritius, home to the Echo or Mauritius Parakeet. In the seventies the population was estimated at 16-22 individuals. A conservation project that became famous was set up to monitor the wild population and breed them in captivity and it was a great success.
Here in Brazil there are many species of parrot. Perhaps the most spectacular is the Hyacinth Macaw. It is an endangered species and is huge. As is its beak, which can crack nuts. It nests in the Pantanal, the Tropical wetland that is a biodiversity hotspot here. The population is possibly in the tens of thousands, although you would have to check the literature if you wanted a more precise estimate. One of the best places to see the Hyacinth Macaw is at Kilometre 33 of the Trans-Pantanal Highway, an unsurfaced track that runs from Poconé to Porto Jofre. There is a working farm there that has guest accommodation and the residents pride themselves on being able to provide facilities that enable close-up viewing, filming and photographic opportunities of the macaws.
The parrots that can be seen locally include the following species. Macaws first: the Blue and Yellow, the Red and Green and the Hyacinth. Of the parrots, the Turquoise Fronted is probably commonest, and of the Parakeets there is the Monk and the Canary Winged.
Captivity
I had the idea for this article because I recently went on a field trip to a pig farm and on the way one of my class mates was saying how much he liked parrots and what he could do to obtain one. It is impossible for most Brazilians to get a parrot legally. They are kept as pets, of course, because there is a deep need in many of us to bring attractive animals into our domestic environment, and the parrot family is nothing if not attractive. But the ones that are kept illegally are mostly maintained in woefully inadequate conditions, with scant regard for their nutritional needs. I don’t blame many private householders locally for the way they keep their animals. Mostly it is due to a lack of available information.
The legal way is to buy one from a Criadouro Comercial, but these are are hard to find because they don’t advertise widely. If you have the money you can buy one and must keep the receipt as proof of purchase. I believe our local environment agency has just instigated a scheme by which people can adopt permanently injured parrots.
If you have a pet parrot and have a question, you can get in contact with many sources of help. You can even send a comment here to me. Have a good weekend.
My Bio. I have a Bachelor’s degree in Field Biology and Habitat Management, a Master’s degree in Conservation Biology and soon I will qualify as a Veterinary Surgeon with a major interest in wildlife veterinary medicine and surgery.
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