實驗進行中, 福壽螺同步在田裡吃著, 田裡的被福壽螺吃得洞越大, 我們的腦洞也越大, 對福壽螺各種想入非非。
於是「農田裡的科學計畫」展開各種不同的實驗, 調查福壽螺的基礎田間資料, 從睡覺時間、移動能力, 一路管到福壽螺愛吃的東西。
(是要交往? 實驗耗時費力, 進行到一個測試:
「福壽螺與誘餌之間,移動距離與時間的實驗」, 內容包含:連續兩天,每隔六小時去田裡一次, 傍晚6點,半夜12點、清晨6點、中午12點。
跟著他們一步一步紀錄,跟拍到第二天, 我心中終於忍不住吶喊:
「到底有完沒完!福壽螺跟科學家都是!」
#2015到2016年
#哈螺農法
農田裡的科學計畫
到底有完沒完
Can We Drop It?
As the experiments continued, the apple snails happily ate away in our rice paddies.
The more rice seedlings they ate, the more our imaginations ran wild with thoughts about apple snails.
Therefore, Science in Field conducted various experiments to gather basic field data on apple snails, from their activity patterns, mobility, to food preferences.
These experiments were both time and labor consuming. One of their experiments was to investigate the distance and time of bait attraction for the apple snails.
Fang-yee and I-Han needed to go to the rice paddy every six hours for two consecutive days at 6pm, 12am, 6am, and 12pm. I followed them to record the whole process. However, by the second day, I got so annoyed by the details of the experiment that I couldn't help but shout to both the snails and scientists in my head, "Can we drop it?!"
#These experiments continued from 2015 to 2016
#Snail-Friendly Farming Method
#Science in Field
Another experiment was to explore the correlation between temperature and the ratio of snails on the soil surface to those burrowed below.
各式各樣的實驗, 比方說,「土上土下」的實驗, 紀錄不同溫度時, 福壽螺在土面上跟土面下的比例。
The snails were gently placed into experimental tanks. Then their behavior was carefully observed.
精緻放螺,貼身觀察。
Furthermore, there was a small crowdfunded experiment that gathered local farmers to test the effectiveness of snail traps.
「福壽螺陷阱誘捕實驗」 是一場小型的募資, 招集小農一起測試陷阱的效能。
兩大一小真的做太慢, 要募集更多人(還有狗?)
The original team of two grown-ups and a toddler was too slow, so more people were recruited to join in (including dogs?).
Both long-legged and short-legged dogs joined the lineup.
不管是長腿狗狗還是短腿狗狗, 都一起上場
Sometimes in rather interesting formations.
???? 好立體的隊形
First, they set up the sampling frames to count the pre-experimental population of snails and estimate the removal rate.
先用樣框數螺 #大家應該越來越有實驗概念了 #先掌握總量 #才能知道移除率
Then they distributed snail traps at a fixed distance.
再固定距離布下陷阱。
They made bait balls with rice bran. Experiments showed that snails love rice bran, which proved to be an effective and free bait, as it is a byproduct of rice production.
捏製米糠球餌料 #米糠 #福壽螺很愛 #實驗證明 #又是米的副產品 #不用錢
Then, they put the bait in the snail traps and made sure the traps were well placed
把餌料放進去,陷阱整理好
Several teams of farmers followed this S.O.P, counting snails and setting up traps with bait in 20 rice paddies.
紀錄、布陷阱、放餌料, 兵分三路操作實驗田, 好幾組農友, 一共做了20塊田。
They checked the traps every day, counting and removing the snails captured for a whole week.
每天一次撿螺、數螺,做一週。
如果打混,抓錯東西
If they caught the wrong species......
Or slacked off, the boss would double check their data to avoid mistakes.
# I wonder if these farmers questioned whether they were here for farming or scientific studies.
老闆隨時會來檢查數據合不合理。 #農友們心裡不知有沒有冒出疑問 #我是來種田 #還是進了哪間實驗室
還是要讓農友可以更有效率的移除福 壽螺。
最佳的陷阱的間隔是多少, 放下陷阱多久之後回來收, 為了回答這些問題, 這家三口又展開一場 「福壽螺與誘餌之間, 移動距離與時間的實驗」。
Although the experiments were timeconsuming, the ultimate goal was to help farmers deal with apple snails more efficiently.
What is the optimal distance between traps? How often should the traps be checked? To answer questions like these, this family began yet another field experiment.
實驗雖然費事, 但最終的目的,
由工作人員小默演繹 #把捲尺放掉但沒有要感到抱歉的臉
Team member Momo showed us how to do it.
# That face says: sorry, not sorry for dropping the tape measure
It was this experiment that left me feeling ready to quit. First, they wiped the apple snails clean and sorted them by size.
They separated a total of thirty snails into three size groups and then marked their shells with different colors of paint.
就是這場實驗讓我覺得真是夠了。
首先把福壽螺擦乾淨, 分好大小、算好數量, 畫上幾組不同的記號。
Fang-yee walked a semi-circle around the bait at a five-meter distance.
以餌料為中心, 開始走半圓。
Placing apple snails along the way.
沿路放下福壽螺。
After the first semi-circle, she did the same at a farther distance, then again for a third time.
第二圈、第三圈,越走越大圈
布好局之後, 第一屆螺馬泥亞運動會正式鳴槍起跑。
After everything was in place, the first “Snailympics” officially commenced.
Let’s see how long it takes the snail athletes to reach the rice bran finish line from different distances (…or how many snails may forfeit.)
接下來就看被放在不同起跑點的螺螺 選手,
會花多少時間進到米糠終點。
(又或者有多少棄權不來)
The team first checked the bait (finish line) at 6am.
主辦單位第一回合查驗, 傍晚六點檢查一次。
The second round of inspection took place at around 12am.
半夜12點......第二回合查驗
The athletes slowly approached the finish line.
選手們慢慢接近中。
隔天清晨六點
At 6am the next morning.
Seeing the sunrise was a nice bonus for the weary scientists.
做實驗送看日出。
The third round of inspection
第三次檢查
Many athletes made it to the breakfast buffet.
不少選手都來吃早餐吧費
主辦單位睏得要命
I-Han was exhausted.
Then, they were back at noon for the fourth round of inspection….Wow, Momo, your parents are in pretty good shape!
# One day left…
# About to lose my mind…
中午場檢查.... 小默同學,你爸媽體力真好, #還有一天 #瘋掉
我自己絕對不幹這種事。
整理一下到目前的數字: 螺越多的田,移除效果越好, 每平方公尺有40隻螺的田, 經過每天收一次陷阱,共一週的時間, 可以移除約6成的福壽螺。
芳儀說,看來就是僧多粥少, 越多人在搶食物,會搶得越兇。
#螺比較少的田 #可以直接撈
There’s no way I’d do this myself.
Let's summarize the results so far:
The more snails in the rice paddy, the more effective the snail traps are; with continuous trapping and snail removal for one week, sixty percent of apple snails could be removed from rice paddies with a high snail density (around 40 snails per square meter).
Fang-yee said, “It seems like when there are not enough resources to go around, with more creatures fighting for food, they fight even more fiercely for it.”
For paddies with relatively low snail density, it’s more effective to remove them manually.
超過20公尺,
福壽螺普遍會放棄來吃餌料,
5公尺內效果最好,
所以陷阱的最佳距離是間隔10公尺。
#也是可以放更密
#但10公尺CP值最高
#科學家幫你算好了
#是說一般人有關心這個嗎
#可以當冷知識
When apple snails are more than 20 meters away from the bait, they generally give up on coming to eat. Rice bran bait can effectively attract snails within a 5-meter distance. Thus, the optimal distance between traps is 10 meters.
While it is fine to place traps more densely, it is more effective to distribute the traps at a 10-meter distance
# The scientists have figured it all out, but does anyone actually care?
# Consider it an interesting bit of trivia.
幾年拍下來,
紀錄了小默在田邊長大。
也記錄到我們在福壽螺之路上,蜿蜒 繞道,四處探索,緩步推進的過程。
八年過去了,
我們只想問一句,
福壽螺,可否把我們的膠原蛋白還來?
2015.03-04月福壽螺生物習性(活動 模式、空間分佈)與陷阱誘捕實驗
2015.09-10月 福壽螺陷阱誘捕實驗 (福壽螺退散募資、與小農合作田間 實驗)
2015.10月26-27 福壽螺誘捕距離實驗
2016.3月 福壽螺鑽土實驗
2016.10月 測試陷阱的福壽螺逃脫率
2018 福壽螺耐乾旱測試
2018.3月 和富邦合作大小秧的實驗 (在小廟旁小塊田)
2018.9月 原生魚種捕食福壽螺室內觀 察
這樣與螺朝夕相處到, 小孩都長出螺殼了。
After living with the apple snails for so long, even the children have grown snail shells.
Over several years not only have I documented Momo growing up along the rice paddies, but also our slow, winding, odyssey-like journey of exploration to unravel the mysteries of the apple snails.
It’s been eight years, and all we want to ask is:
“Apple snails, can you give us back our youth?”
Timeline of Events:
Mar.-Apr. 2015 Experiments to investigate the biology of apple snails including activity patterns and spatial distribution, as well as the effectiveness of snail traps
Sep.-Oct. 2015 Micro-crowdfunding experiment working with local farmers to investigate the effectiveness of snail traps
Oct. 2015 Experiment to estimate the attraction distance of bait balls to apple snails
Mar. 2016 Experiment to explore the correlation between temperature and the burrowing behavior of apple snails
Oct. 2016 Experiment to estimate the escape rate of apple snails from the traps
Jan.-Dec. 2018 Experiment to test apple snails’ desiccation resistance ability
Mar. 2018 -Jul. 2020
Collaboration with the Fubon Cultural & Educational Foundation to study the ability of large rice seedlings to reduce apple snail damage
Sep. 2018
A preliminary manipulated study of predation of native fishes on apple snails in Taiwan