Orjan is a Swedish PhD student who works at the base camp of our long-term research project in Mongolia. These are his adventures…
Spring might have finally come to the Gobi. The last days have been warmer, mainly because the wind has shifted and now blows from the south. I think that this caused this year’s first sand storm, which is a sure sign that spring is coming. Back home we wait for buds and flowers to emerge as signs of spring. Here, it’s the sandstorms.
Speaking of sandstorms, about a week ago, I got some debris in my eye while checking the trap signals. I couldn’t get it out and figured that it would be easier to do so in daylight. Marie, from Sweden, is in camp to assist with ibex surveys and daily work. We thought that we would have to go to the hospital in Gurvantes to ask for help, but we weren’’t sure of how to do it, since she can’t drive the Russian van that far.
Well, out of the blue came Miji to see if we needed help with anything. He saw my situation and offered to help me. He stuck his tongue out and made some circles in the air. I realized that he meant that he could lick the debris out. The only thing that came to my mind was that he smokes and was at that time chewing on a dry piece of bread. I frantically took up the rinsing again. No luck.
Finally, I had to give in and take him up on his suggestion. Miji pushed me down on the bed, stuck his tongue in my eye and licked in circles. On the second attempt he got the debris out. Extremely weird experience and I think that I looked quite awkward because Marie laughed so hard that she cried. She still managed to get some photos though, and no, they will not appear on the blog.
Later in the evening we replaced Tsagaan’s collar, about 200 meters from camp. Like Aztai, he has also grown since last year. His body is 4 cm longer (120 cm to 124 cm) and he has gained about 3 kg, he weighs 44.9 kg now!
Due to the eye I had to work in “pirate style” with a scarf over my injured eye. Apart from that we have heard Saikhan’s VHF signal now and then for the last six nights. Not sure what he is up to but he seems to be moving around, circling our camp.