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Reflections on Life in a Cloud Forest.
Having reached our second campsite high in the remaining cloud forests of Mt. Pulag, I'm wishing I could send you the videos I've taken of this wonderful place. But since I can't do that until I return to the U.S., let me try to describe it in words.
Imagine yourself in a place where people virtually never go. It is high in the mountains in the tropics—so high that it is cool, rarely going above 60o F, but rarely dropping below 45o F. The hot, humid air in the lowlands slowly rises up the mountain and cools, and as it cools, clouds condense. These clouds appear to you as dense fog that swirls over the mountain and deep into the forest. Often, the fog and clouds become thick and dark, and rain begins to fall—rain that totals about 6 meters (20 feet) each year. Wind is common, and so the trees are small and sturdy, and often twisted and gnarled.
Moss loves these cool, wet conditions, and so the trees and even the ground are covered by thick layers of moss. The moss is often saturated with water, so that when you brush up against it, it is like brushing against a soaked sponge. When it rains, the moss and thick layer of humus on the ground absorb virtually all of the rain, releasing it slowly into the ground-water.
It is never silent in the forest, but it is rarely noisy—there is usually only a soft sound of wind at the tree-tops 10 or 15 feet over your head, and often there is the sound of dripping water or the patter of mist or rain on leaves. When the sun shines, there is a soft, bright green glow that suffuses the forest, but often it is in heavy shade, dark green and brown. At night, within the forest canopy, it seems utterly dark.
Now imagine going into the forest with a flashlight at night. If you are lucky, you may see some of the small animals that live there. If you look carefully, you will see hundreds of tiny piles of dirt. These are being carefully deposited by earthworms that poke out their rear ends at the surface and produce a tiny blob of soil that has passed through their digestive tract.
Suddenly a forest mouse darts in and snatches one of the worms, quickly shucking off the dirt and eating the worm in pieces that it tears off, like a child eating a long string of licorice. Ahead you see some piles of raw soil, and a silver earth-mouse emerges from one, pushing a pile of dirt ahead of it. A worm emerges from the pile, and the mouse quickly grabs and eats it; clearly, earthworms are not only abundant here, they are a favorite food for lots of critters.
Overhead, you may catch a glimpse of rapid movement. If it stops in the right spot, you may recognize a tiny mouse with reddish fur, a short, broad head, and remarkably long whiskers. It is carrying a hard nut, which it will carry to a protected spot and gnaw through to reach the seed that is rich with oil and protein. Seeing this animal gets your heart pounding, for it is the species that was just discovered in 2007 on Mt. Amuyao, and this is only the second place it is known to occur.
And ahead of you, there is a shadow that moves. It is much larger than the other species, about the size of a house-cat, and is dark, nearly black. It is carefully moving along the ground, sometimes quickly climbing into a small tree to feed on some tender young shoots, then crossing some vines and limbs to the next tree and back to the ground.
You see now that it is covered with long, flowing black fur that is amazingly long, soft and dense, with hints of lighter fur beneath the black covering. The eyes are large and dark, and the tail is long—longer than the body—and covered with the same long, soft, black fur. It is a giant bushy-tailed cloud rat, an animal that lives only in this wonderful mossy forest, and arguably the most beautiful animal in the Philippines.
If this scenario leaves you with the impression that this is my favorite habitat, you are absolutely correct. For me, this is a place of natural magic, filled with life and biological richness. It is full of animals that are both poorly known and full of surprises about how they live—and this is a wonderful combination for naturalists like me, Danny, Joel, and all of the others. Learning about these animals and the place where they thrive is hard work, living in often soggy tents and cold rain, spending hours and days hiking in the forest, setting and checking traps, recording data, and keeping one’s basic body functions operating at an adequate level. It is also a source of wonderment, understanding, and something that feels a lot like joy.
Photo 1:
A member of the team checks traps in the mossy forest during a rare period of bright sunlight. Moss grows everywhere, often providing a place for ferns and orchids to grow up on the trees.
Photo 2:
The newly discovered "mystery mouse" uses its long whiskers to find its way in the mossy forest canopy at night. Its close relationship to the cloud rats, shown by anatomical and DNA studies, came as a surprise to us all.
Photo 3:
With its long, flowing black fur, the bushy-tailed cloud rat is one of the most beautiful mammals on Luzon Island.
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