A Mammal Big Day

March 15, 2015 4:39 PM

A "Big Day" is a popular birding exercise where a person or team tries to see as many bird species as possible in a single 24 hour period. These are often competitive affairs. A group of Northern California biologists recently wondered what a mammal Big Day could net - and set a North American record in doing so.
posted by primalux (21 comments total)

I once ate nine different species of animal in one day. Does that count for anything?
posted by Faint of Butt at 4:56 PM on March 15, 2015 [5 favorites]

First stop: San Diego Zoo.
posted by Chocolate Pickle at 5:03 PM on March 15, 2015 [1 favorite]

That was fantastic.
posted by rtha at 5:19 PM on March 15, 2015

Oh goodness this is amazing. I'll have to spread it around--I know a couple avid birders and herping enthusiasts who would be delighted by something like this.
posted by sciatrix at 5:38 PM on March 15, 2015

I appreciate that they include the "Domestic Man" in their accounting. It's a good reminder that I see at least one species of mammal on a daily basis.
posted by LSK at 5:43 PM on March 15, 2015 [2 favorites]

How fun, what a great idea!
posted by Klaxon Aoooogah at 5:50 PM on March 15, 2015

Amateurs. My dad beats that list most days just sitting in his chair watching Animal Planet.
posted by jacquilynne at 5:56 PM on March 15, 2015

Big Days are a blast! A few years ago I volunteered at one in Duluth...early spring. The real hardcore birders camp out the night before to get a jump on the early morning species.

If you want to get involved but aren't confident in your birding abilities, you can offer to take notes or carry the binoculars :-)
posted by Elly Vortex at 6:20 PM on March 15, 2015 [1 favorite]

If you want to get involved but aren't confident in your birding abilities, you can offer to take notes or carry the binoculars :-)

I'd love to do this! I'll have to see if there's such a group in my area. I'd totally bring my sketchbook along (hoping a bird would stay still long enough to get something down on paper).
posted by Klaxon Aoooogah at 7:09 PM on March 15, 2015

I understand the actual meaning of "herping enthusiast," but it still makes me snicker. Guess my inner immature five-year-old is strong today.
posted by Alterscape at 7:11 PM on March 15, 2015 [1 favorite]

I understand the actual meaning of "herping enthusiast," but it still makes me snicker. Guess my inner immature five-year-old is strong today.

To be fair, that's totally why I make an effort to use it. :D Because I am internally twelve years old, forever.
posted by sciatrix at 7:23 PM on March 15, 2015

I remain unconvinced that "Domestic Man" is a single undifferentiated species and wonder how many sub-species I could observe if I ever set out on a "Sociological Big Day" in N.Y.C. or L.A.
posted by oneswellfoop at 7:26 PM on March 15, 2015 [1 favorite]

Herp derp reptile watcher?

Okay, I'll give it a break. Seriously, this is interesting and I did not know the Big Day concept existed -- I have a friend who is a working wildlife artist, but I don't know very much about the actual watching hobbies themselves. Thanks for sharing!
posted by Alterscape at 7:32 PM on March 15, 2015

"Domestic Man", it's pretty unusual to see them mentioned in guide books too. I found this quite a while ago:

Human (Homo sapiens)

The park's only primate is highly variable in appearance. Adult males range
from 5-6 feet tall or more; females smaller, less than 6 feet. Diagnostic
habit of walking on hind legs; thinly haired over most of its body, except on
head, groin, and under front arms. Coat color highly variable. Sexes
difficult to distinguish because this species conceals diagnostic features
year round. No distinctive call, highly varied.

Females are sexually responsive all year, but rarely produce young -
averaging 2-3 during lifetime. Young are born helpless, but not blind or
deaf as in rodents. Sexual maturity at 13-14 years, but successful mating
usually does not occur for several more years. Humans do not survive for
long in the wild, but have been known to live more than 100 years in
captivity.

In summer, this species occurs regularly around the park, but uses little of
suitable habitat. Active diurnally and year round. Found in small numbers
of 2 or more on well-established trails from boreal forests to alpine tundra.
Occasionally small groups will remain in alpine valleys or on mountain ridges
for several days. Omnivorous, feeding on anything from nuts and dried fruit
to foods of no nutritive value at all; occasionally seen feeding in berry
patches along with bears and marten.

[Taken from "A Naturalist's Guide to Chugach State Park", by Jenny Zimmerman,
A.T.Publishing and Printing, Inc., Anchorage, Alaska, 1993]

posted by Confess, Fletch at 7:37 PM on March 15, 2015 [7 favorites]

California is the best. Very few other places would yield anything like this.
posted by Potomac Avenue at 7:40 PM on March 15, 2015

Great post -- love the idea of a mammal Big Day!
posted by gingerbeer at 8:13 PM on March 15, 2015

So is this completely predicated on the honor system? Or else anyone could pull a Tommy Flannagan and say "Uh, yeah, I saw a...cardinal. That's the ticket!" Or is this a silly question for birders?
posted by zardoz at 9:00 PM on March 15, 2015

Cool links, thank you.

My brother-in-law and family live in the middle of Missouri. In the middle of the great plains, where perhaps a popular conception (certainly my take, once upon a time) is "there's a whole lot of nothing" or "endless cornfields" etc, he and his family have taken part in organizing/participating in a similar competition to help refute that notion. The Bio-Blitz is an annual happening in Columbia, MO. If I were to wonder about the stakes of this competition, I only have to remember my 8-yr old nephew carefully outlining the difference between dragonflies and damselflies for me...

(Dragonflies have outstretched wings at rest; damselflies keep their wings together)

In the link, you'll notice that -- this not being Northern California -- the BioBlitz counted more species than just mammals in the final tallies. But, there needed to be a cutoff, else the counts might skyrocket. Insects are not part of the final count. This reminded me of a quote from J.B.S. Haldane (early 20th c. evolutionary biologist), who said that the Creator, if he exists, has "an inordinate fondness for beetles."
posted by Theophrastus Johnson at 9:56 PM on March 15, 2015

> So is this completely predicated on the honor system?

Yup.
posted by rtha at 10:10 PM on March 15, 2015

If anyone takes up this challenge in L.A., the Natural History Museum would like to hear about your discoveries (mammals or no!) I can vouch for the helpful nature of their ID guides for certain species. Given that there are bobcats and a mountain lion in Griffith Park, the list of native (and invasive) species thriving in LA can be surprisingly long.
posted by jetlagaddict at 10:45 PM on March 15, 2015

I did not know there was such a thing as a mountain beaver.
posted by tavella at 12:46 PM on March 16, 2015