The Weekly Recap
Hello and welcome back to the weekly recap!
I am writing this from Quebec, where I have a dark confession to make. I have undergone a total transformation. I have spent every day trekking through the snow in search of the Fisher I so foolishly missed as a child, when I did not yet understand the pure joy and magic of being a mammalwatcher. I even started foaming at the mouth when a Bobcat crossed my path and have decided I am leaving it all behind to live in bat caves forever. Amen.
Before you unsubscribe from these recaps, do not fear… I had to include a little April Fool’s 😁 I am pleased to say so far the only mammals I’ve seen are some fat squirrels and the woman in my hostel room who screamed in the middle of the night. Travelling without my dad is so much fun 🥰
The first trip report of the week was Cheryl Antonucci’s cleverly titled “Tale of Two Langurs” from China where she looked for (and found) White-headed and Francois’ Langurs.
My dad’s report from Yucatan Peninsula, Mexico features 27 species, mainly bats, like the Sword-nosed Bat, but with some others too such as a Yucatan Vesper Mouse.
Paul Carter has shared two reports, one from Peru where he saw at least 14 species including Anderson’s Four-eyed Oppossum and an Amazonian Marsh Rat, and one from the Philippines where he found 9 species such as a Palawan Tree Shrew and Palawan Pencil-tailed Tree Mouse.
This report of a Royle Safaris trip to Qinghai includes all the classics like Snow Leopards, Pallas Cats, Tibetan Blue Bears and a whopping 69 other species!
Next up is Greg Easton’s trip report from India, a trip chosen by his clearly indoctrinated 15 year old daughter. They visited Kaziranga and Tadoba National Parks and saw 30 species like Sloth Bear, Ganges Dolphin and Assamese Macaque.
Next is Ben W’s trip to Japan last April where he saw 8 species including Brown Bear, Sea Otter and Japanese Raccoon Dog.
This report by Ralf Bürglin from Morocco has many great photos including a gorgeous one of a rainbow over the Anti-Atlas mountains (not a mammal, I know) and Common Gundis, Dorcas Gazelle and some more cool species.
Last but not least was Roland Holz’s trip to Sri Lanka where he saw Indian Gray Mongoose, Golden Palm Civet, Gray Slender Loris and many more cool species!
If all of these prodigious trip reports have inspired you, here are some upcoming trips you could join: Sierra de Andujar (in about a week!) with Tomer Ben-Yehuda (who’s wife and son haven’t yet caught his mammal disease), Ghana in March next year with Royle Safaris or a train tour through Churchill, Canada to see Polar Bears (November 2026). And as always you can also browse the join a trip page for more bad ideas!
Maurice Tijm, who will be travelling to south England this spring is looking for some advice on where to go for mammals.
Ben S is wondering how to find Hoary Bats in eastern US – where do they roost?
Check out Charles Foley’s review of the TOPDON TS004 thermal scope if you’re trying to figure out which one to get. I still remember how excited my dad was when he got his first thermal scope a few years ago (and how often we had to wait for him to be questioned at airport security… but maybe that was because of the amount of chocolate he was trying to smuggle in).
Finally, Lars Michael Nielsen has shared his story of how he tasted Okapi (there is a good reason, don’t worry) and is inviting others to share their strangest mammal eats, so comment yours on this post and check out others’ stories. I can’t think of anything particularly strange that I’ve eaten sadly (but being vegetarian definitely doesn’t help).
If you would like to subscribe only to weekly updates like these from mammalwatching.com, you can visit this page.
Thanks for reading:)
Katy
Cover photo: Mother says it’s my turn with the Xbox – Greg Easton
PS: I had difficulties choosing the cover photo this week because there were even more great contenders than usual, so I just have to include this photo of a baby White-headed Langur from Cheryl Antonucci’s report because it’s too cute not to.
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