Most of the time villagers don't have the right footwear for running transects through spiny rattan thickets. Flip-flops are usually the only shoe option. To get around this, we usually bring a large assortment of Chinese canvas field boots for people to use. Real cheap, they offer some traction, and they will keep a spine from going into your foot. As is shown above, trying on the field shoes is a much anticipated activity. [NOTE: You get to keep the boots after the fieldwork is finished].
[NOTE: I just added a new header. Shows me (a bit blurry) taking a photo of the skeleton of a ring-tailed lemur (Lemur catta) at the California Academy of Sciences].