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Sunday, September 9, 2012

Dry Lab

I am back up in the Bitterroot Valley for at least a week.  Robert Hamlin Bicycles will be closed until Friday, or, perhaps Saturday.  I have quite a bit of field-work to do:  vegetation plots at all of the wildlife crossing structures, changing batteries, and copying pictures.  Each structure gets 60 plots, all on a 25 meter grid.  You have to get to each plot, even if there is a sheer slope, black bear, jungle, or billabong in the way.  Today it was a billabong, a deep-dark-slimy-beaver-infested-gooey side channel of the Bitterroot River.  I knew it was deep so I took off my shirt and left it on the bank with my phone, keys, hat, wallet, and glasses.  I had to swim sidestroke with one hand holding my field notebook and pen in the air to keep them dry.  I put in the remaining 15 plots on a cottonwood island, and then swam back across.  You can't dry lab the data if you are cold and wet.  No, I never saw the bear, but he was there about 9 hours before I was.


The dry and brave biologist goes to get the data.


 
 
Soggy bottom boy.
 

 

3 comments:

  1. So cool!!! Please be careful! We love you wild boy!!Boo.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Today I put my foot in a pile of bear poo.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Glad it was no snake!

    ReplyDelete

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