South Dakota | David Manly

David vs. Wall, South Dakota

Posted by :David Manly On : September 3, 2009

Category: Black footed ferrets, South Dakota, Wall

It had been a while since my last blog post, and for that I apologize.

I returned safely to Toronto from South Dakota, but I was very tired, and it took me a while to get back to normal.

Some of the details of my trip will have to be a little vague, as it will eventually go onto my website. Same with the pictures I took, as I cannot allow them to enter the public domain just yet.

I started out my trip to South Dakota, with a flight from Toronto to a major U.S. hub airport: Chicago O’Hare. Then, I caught a connecting flight to Rapid City, South Dakota. After picking up all my bags (including all of the friggin HEAVY camera equipment), I picked up my rental car, plugged in my GPS and drove the hour to Wall, South Dakota. Haven’t heard of it? I’m not surprised.

Picture the middle of nowhere in your minds. Add some mountains in the background, a population of just of 800 people and a town that lasts for roughly 12 blocks. TADA! That is Wall.

Wall is small. Very small and very quiet. And when I mean quiet, I mean eerily quiet.

Anyway, I checked into my motel, unpacked and went to Wall Drug, the biggest store in Wall.

The reason? I needed toothpaste, as the security woman at the Toronto airport threw out my toothpaste.

I then called my contact in the ferret program and arranged to meet him at 6:45 pm, to work ALL night. And we did.

Most of the work I was helping with was driving around in 4×4’s trying to spot Black footed ferrets, which is surprisingly difficult. Then, once you spot one, you place a trap to hopefully catch it. If the ferret is caught and is not already marked, you bring it into the medical trailer for various tests and vaccines. Once completed, the ferret is released back into its burrow.

That process went until 7:30 am the following morning. To make a long story short, it was a looooooong night.

I went back to my motel, showered, ate and went to bed until 4 pm. I then woke up, ate and showered again, and then got ready to repeat the whole process over again.

After the second night, I got the chance to explore the National Park where I was working a bit, and got to see Bison and Prairie dogs in the wild. This was in addition to the ferrets, grasshoppers, rabbits, deer and badgers I observed during the night.

My last day in Wall, after the third night, I interviewed the man I was working with, as well as some more footage for my site.

I then went back to the motel, recorded my last video diary (yes, I made video diaries), packed up and left.

By the end of it, even though it was only three days, I was massively sleep deprived and my sleep/wake cycle was all shot to shit. But, I think I got some good footage of various animals, interesting interviews and some good footage of the ferret program.

Suffice to say, it was a crazy time in a small town.

Here’s hoping it turns out as well as I hope! I will keep you all updated as it develops.

Now, this is NOT a picture I took, but it should show you just how cute and adorable the ferrets are. Enjoy.

David’s First Love

Posted by :David Manly On : May 2, 2009

Category: Clutz, Dimetrodon, Dinosaurs, First Love, Pterodactyl, South Dakota, Stegosaurus, T. rex

I’m heading back to Ottawa on Sunday to start my internship working for a Canada government funded science organization … should be an interesting time!

And after that, at some point near the end of August, I will be heading to South Dakota to do research and filming for my MRP about endangered species. Anyone know anything interesting to do in South Dakota during the day because I will be primarily occupied with night shoots?

The most interesting thing that has happened to me in the past few days is that, as many people know, I am a wee bit of a clutz. I bump into stuff, fall occasionally and hurt myself in new and interesting ways. Someone once said that it is because I am so pre-occupied with tons of thoughts in my head, that I forget the normal stuff (like not tripping).

Case in point, I was walking up some stairs to a sidewalk, and putting my phone away and I tripped. So, valiantly, I used my hand to percent any damage to the phone. And, in doing so, my left hand scraped against the pavement. It hurt, but I dusted myself off and continued walking to my car. That is, until about 30 seconds later, when I noticed that blood was dripping onto the sidewalk.

So, holding my hand up and looking like I was raising my hand to a question no one asked, I walked into a gas station and used their bathroom to wash up and asked them for a Band-Aid. Suffice to say, I will soon have a new scar add to my collection 😉

Now, to the meat of this post.

Do you remember your first love?

I’m not talking about your first person who ever loved, I’m talking about the first time you just immediately fell in love with something.

I remember mine quite vividly and fondly.

Dimetrodon synapsid

When I was a child, my dad introduced me to dinosaurs and I was transfixed. The idea that massive creatures roamed the Earth 65 million years ago and have disappeared fascinated me. I went a little nuts and tried to learn as much as I possibly could about every dinosaur.

I checked out library books, read encyclopedias and visited the Royal Ontario Museum enough times to drive my parents bonkers. It was enough that when the school librarian retired, she gave my brother and I some dinosaur books that we checked out dozens of times. Even more impressive, is that we would actually correct the tour guides on museum tours.

I wanted to be a paleontologist and discover dinosaur bones for the rest of my life.
That was the first indication that I wanted to pursue a life of science. As my mom said once, “I knew at once from your love and passion for dinosaurs that you were destined for science.”

This obsession continue through my elementary school years, and even influenced the books I read. In grade 5, I started reading adult books beginning with Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton, which I still possess to this day.

And when that movie came out, I literally had a smile on my face the entire time. THAT movie defined my childhood, and I truly loved it. My brother and I saw it at least eight times in the theaters.

Parents, sister, mom, dad, grandparents, aunt and by ourselves twice 😉

Dinosaurs had a profound impact on my life.

Through them, I learned about he theory of evolution when I was a kid.
As well, when religious leader told me that I was not supposed to believe in dinosaurs because they did not exist, it shattered my faith. He said that “God put the dinosaur bones into the ground to test our faith,” which was the first time I thought that religion was not for me. Dinosaur bones could be felt, touched, studied, analyzed and dated. Cold, hard facts.

But, what happened to me wanting to be a paleontologist?
Sadly, it fell by the wayside to a brief stint wanting to be an actor, followed by a zoologist.

But, I will forever credit dinosaurs with beginning my love for science.

And, what are my favourite dinosaurs? There are far too many to name, but the ones that immediately come to mind are:
Dimetrodon (pictured above), the T-Rex (Sue, the most complete skeleton ever found is pictured below) the Stegosauraus (also pictured below) and the Pterodactyl (also below)

Tyrannosaurus Rex