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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
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Cool birds of the day: sage thrasher and green-tailed towhee.
And some semi-random bonus pictures:
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Calochortus leichtlinii
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each sheep flock has its own burro
Mariposa lilies of any kind are gorgeous! I had no idea about the donkey with every sheep herd, is he there as a sound alarm? Those things can be extremely load and aggressive with the hooves if they feel like it.
ReplyDeleteI have to find out more about it ! I was told that the sheep follow the burro...
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