Friday, February 15, 2008

thriftstore glasses and barbed wire

Snipping wire for otter snares is generally precluded with a sigh and grimacing face - not because it's ridiculously challenging, it's just really tedious...Fortunately Kurt, the lead scientist/otter guru, was pleasantly surprised by the number of complete snares, meaning fewer untampered snares that we "get" to clip. Because it's a very awkward, abrasive task, I can't really do it inside our house (nothing like stabbing yourself with a random wire chunk to reinforce that minor detail) - so, much to the entertainment of our neighbors, I've moved a table out onto our front porch and have set up a little wire snipping sweatshop if you will - and the best part is the pair of mildly magnified reading glasses I snagged at Goodwill that I use as safety glasses; for $.39 I can handle the headache that sets in after an hour -it's a good timer for breaks.

Next week is the beginning of the wildlife's work with 2 very cool park technicians - it sounds like more trekking through the Elwha looking for otter latrines and eventually setting up the beloved snares.

The hydrology group is currently the in the midst of data interpretation madness as we prepare for a snow conference coming up in April, meaning my best friend Excel and I will be spending lots of time together in the next few weeks, thankfully I've got some good wine on hand...

No comments: