Today was my first day back sampling in the pastures with my always wonderful assistant, Noelia. I love the pastures in Monteverde. They are beautiful and so awesome to wander in. We saw, well rather startled, a coati today. He scampered out of the top of a tree and ran across the pasture.
In the pastures, because the trees are much shorter, rather than climbing we are able to collect my epiphytic bromeliads using a pruning pole. However, pastures create a different kind of obstacle. Instead of an expertise in tree climbing, in the pastures, Noelia and I have become professional fence hoppers. Of course, we have received permission to enter all of these private farms, however, sometimes to get to these isolated trees loaded with epiphytes we have to climb and maneuver around barbed and electric fences. See below for Noelia's fancy roll under a fence today.