| Question: |
What
is the population of the largest town you have stayed in? |
|
|
Jamie:
Well, there are 2.6 million people in Mongolia, and just about 1 million
of them live in Ulaanbataar, the capital city. The country is 1.56
million square kilometers in size, and was in the Guinness Book of
World Records for being the least densely populated country in the
world. |
| Question: |
Did
you think it was gross to see the argali organs? |
|
|
Jamie:
Well, I actually wasn't there, that was all Arsen, and I think he
got a huge kick out of seeing it though. The next day I did see two
carcasses of dead argali that had just been munched on. It is really
sad, but you just have to remember that it is nature, it is nature
taking its toll on certain animals and that has to happen in order
for other animals to survive. It's definitely hard to see but it happens. |
| Question: |
What
is the average life span of argali sheep? |
|
|
Jamie:
Male argali live between 11 and 13 years and the females live between
13 and 15 years. The females outlive the males considerably, but it
seems that a lot of the males that we've found that have died are
9 years old, and that is a little bit earlier than they should die? |
| Question: |
When
you tranquilize the argali sheep, how long do they stay asleep? (this
question was misunderstood - she thought we asked how or how long
the argali sleep? |
|
Jamie:
That's a good question, they never really seem to be sleeping when
we are around, that would be too easy for us. |
| Question: |
What
is the most interesting thing that you notice about the argali? |
|
Jamie:
They are the world's largest mountain sheep and they are actually
quite large. I didn't realize how large until we saw the two that
had died. It was amazing how big they were. |
| Question: |
How
tall are the argali? |
|
Jamie:
Well, I haven't seen one up close that was standing up, but I would
guess that they are between 4 and a half and 5 feet tall? |
| Question: |
Has
Tyler met any "Red Sox" fans on any of your travels? |
|
Jamie:
No, I don't really think so. We are sort of in the middle of nowhere,
and we don't see much of anyone. |
| Question: |
On
average, how many argali die during a year? |
|
Jamie:
I think it varies with different seasons. Some seasons are worse than
others, and it really depends on the food supply. There is a significant
number that die every year, especially the older argali. Just in the
two weeks we have been here we have found seven dead argali, and that
was surprising for that short amount of time. |
| Question: |
How
large is the herd (of argali) in Mongolia? |
|
|
Jamie:
There are 600 argali in this central park here where we are working.
I am not sure about the numbers outside of the park. There are over
9000 animals in this park and 600 of them are argali. |
| Question: |
Is
the trip what you expected? |
|
Jamie:
Yeah, its great. It is so far from everybody, and it is really exciting
being out where only the animals live. |
| Question: |
What
is the land (the terrain) like where you are? |
|
|
Jamie:
The land is really from one extreme to the other. There are grasslands,
then mountains, then right next to the mountains is the black Gobi
Dessert. There are vast miles of dessert, then miles upon miles of
mountains. When we walk along the mountain here we can see the Gobi
Dessert from where we are. It is just so vast and varying. |
| Question: |
Is
your ger in the mountains? ---- [definition:a ger is a sort of makeshift
camp/village] |
|
Jamie:
Our ger is in a little grass valley between two mountains. The mountains
are directly on either side of us. |
| Question: |
Are
there a lot of poor people? |
|
Jamie:
It really depends on your definition of what poor is. I would say
no, not really. The Mongolians are generally happy, optimistic people,
I wouldn't really think that poor is the right word to describe them.
They live basic lives. |
| Question: |
Did
you do anything amusing on your spare time? |
|
|
Jamie:
Spare time? what spare time are you talking about? We play scrabble
later, when we're done with dinner. That's always fun. I never thought
I would play Scrabble so many times in a two week period. I think
I am all Scrabbled out. |
| Question: |
How
do you like being around the different cultures? |
|
|
Jamie:
I think being around the different cultures is absolutely wonderful.
You learn a lot about the different people and at the same time you
learn a lot about yourself. That is one of the best parts about this
project, for me anyway. |
| Question: |
Have
you come across any hunters looking for argali? |
|
Jamie:
No, we haven't. We were told that there haven't been any hunters in
this immediate area for about three years. That would have been scary,
I'm glad we haven't seen any. |
| Question: |
Does
mutton taste good? |
|
|
Jamie:
I don't know, I don't eat mutton. I'm not sure if it tastes good or
not, but I think that Tyler and Arsen and Jim and Auggie all like
mutton a lot. |
| Question: |
Do
you guys (team members) all get along? |
|
Jamie:
Oh, of course we do. We spend all the time every day with each other.
Whenever we get kind of agitated with each other we know to give each
other extra time and space. For the most part, yes, we do get along.
|
| Question: |
How
difficult are the argali to deal with when they have the sheet over
their head? |
|
Jamie:
Well, up to yesterday they all really were quite calm. Just two lambs
kept kicking even after we caught them and put the sheet over their
head. For the most part -- about 95 percent of the time, they are
calm, they don't move. The get scared and they don't know what is
going on around them so they usually don't fight much, they usually
just lay down while the sheet is over their eyes. |
| Question: |
How
long do the argali horns grow? |
|
Jamie:
I think that some of the horns on one argali that was found dead (from
a poacher) measured were over 70 inches. |
| Question: |
Which
plants do argali forage (eat)? |
|
Jamie:
They eat straw grass. Yesterday I saw some onion grass which I am
sure they eat. The food is really slim pickings' here, so I think
they just eat whatever plants they can get their mouth on -- even
simple grass and shrubs. |
| Question: |
Do
you play any other games beside Scrabble? |
|
Jamie:
Yes, we have this other name game and I am absolutely terrible at
it. It is about famous people who are in the public eye. I am really
bad at it so I don't play. |
| Question: |
How
close have you gotten to an argali? |
|
Jamie:
Well, yesterday me and Tyler were on one side of a rock, and apparently
there were argali directly on the other side of the rock. We were
probably about six or sever feet from one and we didn't even know
it until he jumped out of the rock and ran away. That was the closest,
except for when we catch the lambs. |
| Question: |
What
keeps you going when things aren't going well? |
|
Jamie:
You know, just taking 5 minutes to myself and trying to clear my head.
There aren't any comforts of home so you really just have to relax. |
| Question: |
What
animal are you most interested in researching? |
|
Jamie:
To be honest, the Nile Crocodiles were interesting, for me anyway.
I would really like to research those. But I would be happy researching
any of the animals we've dealt with. |
| Question: |
What
are the bathrooms like over there? |
|
Jamie:
Do you really want to know? Well, they are pit toilets, with a little
toilet seat on it. The seat is pretty comfortable actually. The women
have their own little outhouse. The men have an even littler outhouse,
it is really more like a closet. When they made the women's they made
it bigger so it is nice and roomy. |
| Question: |
Do
you ever get to go home for holidays? |
|
Jamie:
Yeah, I was home for Christmas and for Easter. We had about a month
for Christmas and a week for Easter. That was a lot of fun. |
| Question: |
What
types of food do you normally eat? (for Auggie) |
|
Auggie:
We eat a lot of the same food as you eat. But we eat mutton daily,
and vegetables and dairy. For wintertime we eat a lot of beef. |
| Question: |
Have
you ever been to Los Angeles?[for Auggie] |
|
|
Auggie:
Yes, I was there for just a couple of hours. I liked it but it was
too big. |
| Question: |
Can
you speak to us in Mongolian? [for Auggie] |
|
|
Auggie:
-- translation: hello, good morning my friends, it is nice talking
to you guys. |
| Question: |
How
do you say "dog" in Mongolian? [for
Auggie] |
|
|
Auggie:
-- [translation into Mongolian] |
| Question: |
Have
you ever been on any other Earthwatch trips? [for
Auggie] |
| |
Auggie:
Yes, I have been on one other one in 2000. This is my second one.
|
Earthwatch
Institute • Valley Christian
Schools
©2005 Valley Christian Schools in partnership
with Earthwatch Institute |
