The doldol tree

I heard this story when I was still working with FFI-PBCP doing an ethnobiological survey of the distribution and conservation status of the leopard cat. I was talking to the women in an upland barangay in Antique, and they said, “You know the doldol [Ceiba pentandra] means a great deal to us.” “How so?,” I wondered out loudly to them. They smiled, “Because when the doldol dehisces, we know our men will be coming home soon.”

The sakadas arrived in the hacienda the day before. There are about 70 of them; all of them from Antique. As I stood before them early this morning, discussing the project, I peered through their faces. Some are young, some are about my age, and some are older. In the next seven months, these men will be harvesting the cane. They will be seeing our live traps, and our hair snares. Chances are, they will be uncovering kitten, encountering adult cats. We need to know if they do. I also asked them to let the cats be. I explained why. They seem to understand. Some were nodding their heads. Most were just listening.

We shall see. I am hopeful though.

Lamentation

Blisters on my feet; cane cuts on my face

Long walks under the sweltering heat,

Or the cold Araal rain

Still, no cat

We know they’re there—

We’ve seen the tracks,

And collected the scats

Why can’t we get them to go in the traps???

Yet again…

Instead of baiting the hair snares this morning, we set out with the carpenters who will be working on our observation posts to gather the bamboo. I enjoyed the ride on the tractor, although I probably have numerous cuts from the cane, again. We also saw some edible mushrooms on the way, and although Jeric was first to get to them, I asked him to give them to carpenters. The real Platform Day will be tomorrow!

Our third attempt, yes. With the help of the village hunter, we set up two traps. Walking through the Transect 13, manong Ronnie would peer inside the cane from time to time. I guess he’s trying to think like a cat; something I’ve failed to do several times already. He stopped. We went in. This time, we went further inside parcel 5. Tom was unwilling to go inside the bait compartment. Quite understandable. The set up was basically the same; nong Ronnie didn’t put soil to camouflage the trap floor though. From parcel 5, we went further in. We’re going to parcel 13 THROUGH the cane. I braced myself. Off to #13 we go, winding through the cane, wincing every time a blade catches some bare skin. He stopped, and again, he bent down and leveled the soil. This is where we’re setting the second one up. Same procedure. We tried the treadle-and-door mechanism several times, and like Tom’s trap, Jerry’s was working well. We stood up, and I braced myself again for more cane. We went straight home.