Fixin' Fences !

I've spent my share of time climbing over barbed wire fences while doing wildlife surveys, but now I'm responsible for some of them ! Our barbed wire fences are used to keep grazing livestock where they're supposed to be, whether it's within a certain area or outside of an area we want to protect, such as a meadow, riparian corridor, or aspen grove. Here, my coworker Casey shows me how we repair breaks in the fence. Don't tell him though, he hates having his picture taken. ;) The fences can break under pressure from the snow that covers the Bodie Hills in winter. One solution is the installation of "let-down" fences that can be put up or taken down with relative ease. We also use let-down fences in areas near sage-grouse leks, since the birds flying in to strut their stuff aren't always paying attention to where they're flying...

the fence let down

close-up of the simple post attachment

Cool birds of the day: sage thrasher and green-tailed towhee.

And some semi-random bonus pictures:

Calochortus leichtlinii


each sheep flock has its own burro