I’ve been developing a research project to estimate Sanibel’s bobcat population and determine their diet. The first part of the project I’m tackling is looking at diet. The easiest way to figure out what an animal is eating is to look at its scat. To do that, you need a good system for collecting that scat. I’m establishing areas that will be walked regularly and any bobcat scat found will be collected. It will then be washed and the bones and hair that weren’t digested will be identified. I’ve been working on setting up transects and getting the proper permissions and permits to work on both city and national wildlife refuge property. The transects are almost all established, so this part of the study should be up and running soon!

Up to this point, my career has involved collecting data for other people’s research. I haven’t designed a research project on my own since college. The process has been both rewarding and scary. I’m using skills from college that are a little rusty and whatever goes wrong ultimately falls back on me. With this in mind, I’m trying really hard to account for all the things that could go wrong, knowing that in the end there will still be things completely out of my control. That’s just the nature of doing field work!