Three things I learned during my last fieldwork trip

In June 2017 I travelled to Bulgaria and Romania to collect samples for my PhD. A month earlier, I drove almost 1300 km across both countries in search of a perfect field site. And a year earlier I collected samples in Serbia and Croatia. So I thought I knew what to expect and was fairly well equipped for this new adventure. As it turns out, there were few things that took me by surprise….

1. Sampling on ropes is hard

Sampling loess section in Croatia

The sediments I am interested in are usually preserved in the form of vertical exposures. Most of the time in the form of cliffs. Most of the time more than ten metre cliffs. Last year I learned that this is not a territory for ladders. They are often not long enough to cover the whole section, and generally not safe enough to use.

To makes things easier this year, I decided to get myself trained (at the wonderful Plas-y-Brenin Mountain Centre) in rope work. I mastered knots, safety equipment, abseiling down sections, climbing back up, setting up ropes, and, to a certain degree, how to deal with heights. Ready to conquer loess!

As it turns out, I was definitely not ready! It was much harder than I thought it was going to be. It is one thing to practise and dangle on a rope for one hour, it is another thing to be stuck on a cliff for five to seven hours.

What surprised me the most, was how mentally demanding it was. Suspended several metres above the ground, your physical wellbeing is on the line, so you need full concentration, at all times. Now add to this, things falling on your head, snake attacks (see below), and trying not to swing (as this damages the rope), and you can begin to see what I mean. It’s tricky even when you are just standing half way up the section.* When combined with the seemingly simple task of collecting some loose sediment, it seems this was a bit too much for my poor brain to cope with. I was so exhausted after just a few hours of work!

Sampling loess in Bulgaria

You need to also consider logistics—which didn’t occur to me before. It is not so easy (and quick) to climb back up on the single rope. It takes a good 40 minutes (for someone like me who is still a novice) to get back up. Climbing back up also means that all that beautifully cleaned section gets covered in all the stuff you kick and knock off on the way up. Therefore, the goal is to only go up and down once a day. Now this means you need to take with you all the equipment you are going to need throughout the day – enough sample bags, and plenty of food and water. Going to the toilet might also not be an option until you get back up (unless you get a shewee).

Climbing back up.

All in all it is hard work, and there are a lot of things to consider. Though at the same time, it is SO MUCH FUN!

*We cut shelves into the section to help with sampling and to support blood flow. Yes, blood flow. As hanging in a harness for prolonged periods of time makes your legs and backside go numb.

2. Things that didn’t make it in to my risk assessment—snakes and scorpions…

Ok, I’m not that ignorant to assume that there are no snakes in Bulgaria and Romania; after all, they can be found in the UK as well. I just have never seen one in the wild. In hindsight, maybe I was a little naive; we were exploring high grasses away from well-explored human routes. I just didn’t anticipate coming across one, especially while hanging on rope over a 15-m loess cliff.

I’m almost certain it was a Vipera berus, aka Common European Viper, also known as an Adder. As the name suggests, they are quite common and can be found across most of north-western and southern Europe. This is probably because they thrive in so many habitats, like hillsides, moors, sandy heaths, meadows, edges of woods, hedgerows, coastal dunes, and even banks of rivers and lakes. As long as they can find a dry and sunny spot, they are good.

Although they are venomous their venom is not very strong and rarely life threatening.¹ The species is not particularly dangerous or aggressive, and attack only when stepped on or they feel threatened. They prey on little mammals, lizards, amphibians, and birds. We interrupted lunch I think, because the one I saw was going for some screaming chicks in a nest above our heads.

I suppose we should count ourselves lucky that we didn’t come across a Vipera ammodytes aka a Horned Viper. This species, I was told, is also very common in the area, but its venom is much more toxic. It is considered one of the most dangerous snakes in Europe.

Another member of the animal kingdom that I didn’t expect to get acquainted with was a scorpion. He just landed on the spade while we were cleaning a sedimentary section. Here I will admit my ignorance—I did not know there are scorpions in Europe. It turns out that in Bulgaria and Romania these are fairly common. As many as four species of scorpions, belonging to two different families, can be found in this area: Mesobuthus gibbosus, Euscorpius carpathicus complex (Carpathian Scorpion), Euscorpius deltshevi, and Euscorpius mingrelicus (I have to say while I was researching this, I was greatly disappointed not to find cool common names for most of these bad boys). The distribution of most of these species is not mapped very well, and so little is known about their populations in these areas. It also appears that only the sting of Mesobuthus gibbosus can be dangerous to human health.²

The one we saw was yellowish and quite small. To be honest I didn’t stop long enough to determine which species it was and definitely not if it was going to be venomous.

3. Romania is not a Slavic country (at least when it comes to language)

I think we have Hollywood to thank for that notion, with all the Count Dracula impressions which have accents somewhere between Borat and weird Slavic American (if you include Count von Dracula of Sesame Street). Modern Romania was a fully integrated province of the Roman Empire, Dacia. It also fully embraced Latin. Even after the fall of the Roman Empire, the people throughout the Romanian Provinces (Wallachia, Moldova, and Transylvania) identify themselves as descendants of Romans.³ The Romanian language until this day preserves its Latin origins and is closer to Italian than neighbouring Slavic ones (like Bulgarian, Serbo-Croatian, or Ukrainian).

When I think about it now, it is so obvious—Roma-nia. Of course it is not Slavic!

Live and learn!

References

1. Person, H. (2015), Pathophysiology and Treatment of Envenomation by European Vipers, Clinical Toxinology in Asia Pacific and Africa, 1-15. https://link.springer.com/referenceworkentry/10.1007/978-94-007-6288-6_9-1
2. Yigit, N., Benli, M. (2007) The sting of Mesobuthus gibbosus (Scorpiones: Buthidae): morphological and ultrastructural characterization, Euscorpius — Occasional Publications in Scorpiology, 61
3. https://tiparituriromanesti.wordpress.com/2013/04/01/anton-verancsics-despre-originea-romanilor-circa-1550/

This story was published on December 21, 2017, on the blog Evidently Scientifical (available here) and has been republished here with permission.