Paper short abstract:

Out of necessity anthropologists develop close reciprocal relationships with human informants while in the field, and as a result many have taken on a sponsorship role when the research ends. However, 'what's in it for the animals?' (Birke 2009).

Paper long abstract:

Out of necessity anthropologists develop close reciprocal relationships with human informants while in the field, and as a result many have taken on a sponsorship role when the research ends, sending resources back to support the people who helped facilitate their endeavours. For researchers who rely on otherthanhuman animals as informants and gatekeepers, it appears that comparatively little consideration is given to their fates, both during fieldwork and afterwards. Birke (2009) has urged social scientists to consider 'what's in it for the animals?' i.e., what do our otherthanhuman informants gain (or lose) from their enrolment in our research projects? Drawing on vignettes from fieldwork on farms in rural Wales this paper attempts to interrogate the predicaments of the otherthanhuman gatekeepers and informants who have contributed to my own acceptance in the eyes and minds of my human informants, and who have facilitated my understanding of the complex networks of trans-species relations which are integral to life in this particular fieldwork context.