Mmmmm, camel ticks...

I think I've discovered the worst thing about doing field work in the desert in China. Camel ticks. Yucky little critters. I was told last year (but never saw them since I was restricted to the field station due to the impending Olympics) that there were "insects" in the desert that chase you and crawl up your pants. Well today I saw them. They aren't insects. They're camel ticks. About 1/3 of an inch long, and they apparently hang out in the sand to keep cool until they somehow sense a passing potential host. Then they come scurrying out after the individual (camel, cow, horse, sheep, person) in a mindless race to hitch a ride and latch onto a meal. So you have to keep moving faster than this ticks. And ideally gaters are a good idea to keep them from getting under your pants cuff. I'm itchy just thinking about this. I think I'm going to strip down in front of the big bathroom mirror and have a quick check even though I know I'm clean. They just give you the creepy crawlies thinking about them. Though I'm so glad I'm not a girly girl. I had a "discussion" with my student the other day about women doing fieldwork, because he didn't like the idea of bringing along a young female PhD student. He wanted a male student who could help him "in the field" (his favorite phrase). I, of course, got my feathers ruffled that he was lumping women into this wimpy category when I know loads and loads of women who can get just as or dirtier than the boys and can hold up to the heat and hard work. Mmmm, maybe not this one so much. I adore her. She's been so sweet and helpful all week. But she's a city gal. The mere idea of the ticks got the better of her, and there was a minor melt down when she saw the first one. I, on the other hand, was immediately fascinated by their single-minded hunting skills. I'm not sure if it's head, movement, or CO2 that they sense, but they're incredibly quick and efficient.

But we did arrive today, which is excellent. We packed up the van this morning with all of our belongings and supplies and made the hour and a half drive north from Urumqi to the field station at the edge of the desert. It looks perfect. It's warm during the day, and the vegetation is starting to come out, but it's still pretty barren and cold at night. Apparently the low temperature just broke freezing last week, so things seem to be on track for an early collection. We had a look around and set some traps (industrial mouse traps) this afternoon to see if we catch anything overnight. There did seem to be footprints in the sand that look about right for the three toed critters we're searching for, so I think they are out already. We've negotiated with a few local folks to go out and collect live ones tonight, so we'll see what the situation is tomorrow. Either we're going to be very very busy very soon, or we'll have a few days to wait and re-assess.

The drive out to the desert was spectacular (pre-tick). The young musician guy from last year came to pick us up, and then we went to collect his father. His father is apparently a well known local hunter and knows how and where to find these little rodents. This was one of those days I wish I understood Chinese fluently, because the father is fascinating. He kept trying to share survival skills about how to find water in the desert, info about the ticks, descriptions of native plants, but all of this had to pass through translation from the two students. At least I'm more connected and more involved this year, but the father said to me (through Xialin) that he wishes I understood Chinese, because there was a lot he wanted to teach me. There's a lot I'd love to learn.

But the trip started with a failed start. Of the car, that is. The musician guy (I don't know names, so they're the musician and his father) got a new car since we were here last year. But it's apparently having starter problems and therefore has to be push-started. And it's a small SUV, so it's quite a collective effort to get this thing moving in the middle of the road with big trucks and motorcycles whizzing past. I guess it's supposed to be fixed tomorrow which will be nice, but not nearly as interesting for our story.

The dunes are about a 20 minute drive from the field station, and it's a fascinating drive. The immediate area is farmland, but it's incredibly salty soil. Right now the whole surface of the ground is covered by thick white crystals. It's amazing any plants can come up in this earth. But they are. Then the further out you go, the more barren and sandy it becomes. The agriculture changes from farming to nomadic grazing, and there are yurts (round canvas tents - temporary homes) dotting the roadside. The local sheep and goat herders ride on horseback, so you see flocks of sheep in movement followed by a couple of mounted Chinese "cowboys". It amuses me that they're so fascinated by the American cowboy, when they've got for all practical purposes their own version right here at home. Then right before the landscape changes again to tall loose sand dunes, there was a huge herd of camels. Bactrian camels. Of the two-humped variety. They're endangered, and there are apparently only about 400 remaining in the wild, but there seems to be a pretty healthy domestic population since I've seen them all over Xin Jiang (even rode one last year). Hence the accompanying population of foul camel ticks...

And I just checked out clean. No hitchhikers!