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Interesting xing river method 4 Landcruiser by ant researcher

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http://www.discover.com/issues/mar-06/features/ants-madagascar/
...
Fisher and his crew generally travel from site to site in a Toyota Land
Cruiser, staying in the field for two months straight in the thick of the
rainy season, the best time for ants and the worst time for roads. At one
point, when the vehicle got bogged down in an area with no trees for
attaching a winch cable, Fisher and his team hiked six miles, cut down some
trees, carried them back, dug holes, planted the trees, winched the vehicle
30 feet forward, then dug up the trees, replanted them-and did it again and
again for two days.
Among other techniques for crossing flooded rivers, he sometimes attaches
ropes to the sides of the Toyota and positions swimmers in midstream. Then
he drives in till the water laps the windshield. (Any deeper, Fisher says,
risks a rollover.) He shuts down just before the engine floods and waits
while the swimmers haul the ropes to the opposite bank and tow. It doesn't
always work.
One time, the engine died at night in the middle of a fast-moving river. The
water rose. Fisher walked to the nearest village and woke up the headman,
who organized a caravan of oxcarts hauled by zebus, the local cattle. The
party arrived back at the river at dawn, and the headman stood on the hood
of the car crying out orders to the five zebu teams spread out ahead. The
car started to move. But the opening in the riverbank was too steep and
narrow for the zebus. So Fisher walked 15 miles to a shrimp farm, then
bushwhacked back ahead of a borrowed tractor.
...
Lal
 
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