The yaks were let out on to pasture today. Ruby the big bully led the charge.
Talked to my friend whose boyfriend bought/returned Harry the bull. She said none of the yows they had made it. One I know was born premature. One she said wasn't bred. I'm not certain what happened to the other two cows they had bred to him.
We lost a lamb yesterday. Not certain what happened but Dad found him laying under the feeder. Although he said it was unlikely he got crushed since the sheep were less than thrilled with the alfalfa pellets they got for dinner.
I found out my internship runs till the end of June so I'll be up at school . I will work Saturdays and Sundays and two days in the middle of the week. I will have Mondays and Fridays off along with one other day.
I am only a little bummed since it means I won't be able to apply for the summer "zookeeper" position at the zoo. Upside it is going to be a lot of fun. I'll be running survey's at trail heads. I am helping build the surveys now and will be able to help with the publication process.
The turkeys have disappeared. That is to say the two older hens have. They have presumably have left to brood their nests in the dumbest places know to man and turkey-kind.
One has been seen down by the desert property line. So, she is either in the "neighbor's" field ( just a commercial field, no one lives there) or actually on the edge desert. The desert which is filled with coyotes, snakes, hawks & eagles, foxes, and the occasional cougar...
We actually are sandwiched between two strips of desert so the critters aren't shy about passing through.
Not much to report as I haven't been home in a while. At least one hen is nesting on the edge of the river. I decided not to move her. If I lose her at least I have a new batch of birds coming this summer. I still haven't made an appointment to get the sheep sheared, but in my defense I was putting that off until I knew my work schedule for my internship.
Speaking of which, I went out into the field with them on Sunday to get a sense of the actual eagle side of the study which was pretty cool. I observed a nest for 4 hours. They determined it was abandoned and we hiked in to see if there was any evidence a a hatch. LONG hike. Up one ridge line, down a very steep hill/mountain side ( my butt has bruises to prove it), and back up another slightly less steep hill. This Golden Eagle nest was probably 30 feet up on a cliff side and had an overhang so we couldn't see down into to it either. The nests are huge though!
Also saw a nest with two hatchlings. All in all 11 hours in the field.
I will be doing more of the recreation side of the study and conducting surveys. Although, I have the feeling he might have me do some observations when he is really busy. I work Saturday, Sunday, Tuesday, and Thursday. So, although I have 3 days off, it makes it difficult to get home and shear the sheep and come back up in the same day.
There is one other aid so my plan is to wait until she is back from her vacation and take a Tuesday or Thursday off so I have three days to get everything set up, bring in the crew, and get every body sorted back out.
I have a regular Chem test this week, dead week next, and finals week following that. I am going to try to go home this week end to take stuff back.
They are actually pretty small. Similar to dexters or highlands. The bulls do have more power than the regular breeds though. One of ours was known for beating the snot out of the angus and charolaise bulls at the place we sold/bought him back from