There's a lot of indoor time in a zoo-based project...

Greetings from the dark, cold land of the honours students room,

The tedium has set in...
That didn't take long.
My most fascinating part of the day was when I found a funny T-Rex comic on the internet. In case you're wondering, no, there was absolutely no reason I should be looking at T-Rex comics during my research. It was a thrilling moment for all involved.

Me being thrilled.

I have been constructing the behaviour keys for my research. Essentially each key is coded for a behaviour I hold down the key when that behaviour is occurring, at the end of each sample I get a little spreadsheet which tells me the amount of time each key was held down for and voila I know how long each individual spent eating, playing, engaging in coitus etc.
In order to check the program was working properly I practiced by watching the other honours students and recording their movements over a ten minute period to construct the colourful key below.

A rainbow of stalking!

Another highlight of my amazing week is my ability to attract illness and plagues. I have an infection, a viral throat infection and a thoroughly burnt hand. I am currently self medicating with lemon and honey green tea and lots of sleep, oh and drugs, all the drugs. I could start quite a lucrative trade in illicit pharmaceuticals if this whole honours thing falls through. Stay tuned, this blog may document my slow descent into the world of organised crime.

Despite my incessant whinging (to be honest I'm impressed you're still reading) I am genuinely having a good time. Unfortunately I'm in the initial planning and reading phase of my project not the going-to-the-zoo-and-watching-baby-apes-phase. In case you're wondering, the latter phase is the better one. But never fear! I get to go to the zoo this afternoon and my friend and colleague, Simone, will be pulling an all-nighter at the zoo on the night of the full moon, I am exceptionally tempted to invite myself along to that party.. Although to be honest I like sleeping and I hate being cold so it probably won't be as fun as I imagine.

However I did drop into the zoo briefly the other day and Lily came up to say hello when she saw me. Cute gibbons make all the reading and headaches worthwhile.

The lovely Lily.

I promise my next post will be full of whacky zoo related highjinks or whacky overcaffeinated rants. Either way you'll be entertained and not forced to read about my many woes. Unless I get another illness, then I'll be complaining until the cows come home. And I don't have any cows. So that will be FOREVER.