So this Wednesday instead of having my day off like usual, Colette asked me if I wanted to work overtime. I said "sure." As many of you know, I'm not one to turn down a chance for extra money. I asked her what I would be doing and she said I would be working with Rachel as swiftwater rescue at the Lamar road closure.
Let me explain a bit.
I got to see my first Bald Eagle in the wild ever yesterday! It was pretty cool. That's all.
As promised, here are some pictures of the bison carcass removal. WARNING: Some of these pictures are graphic, so if you can't deal with an animal being cut up or the sight of guts, you probably won't want to see these.
So Sad.....So we have a young bison who seems to have gotten lost from his mother. The rangers and I have taken to calling him Charlie. We all thought he would still need milk to survive, but he's been grazing and he looks just as healthy as ever
Charlie's kinda smart. Instead of being on his own, he joined a small group of male bison and is hanging out with them. This actually gives him a pretty good amount of protection from predators. So far Charlie's survived for about three weeks, and the rangers and I are rooting for him.
There are always a few things you want to check while hiking in Yellowstone. First, you would want to check the conditions of the trail that you are hiking. Ask rangers questions like, "Is the trail safe? What will the weather be like today? Is the trail accessible? (i.e. wet conditions, snow)" If a ranger recommends a trail to you, you can assume that the trail is fine to hike. They should know the conditions of the trail. If a trail is dangerous or closed, the ranger wouldn't have suggested that specific trail. But definitely always ask about weather conditions.
Another lovely day in Yellowstone. Jan, one of the supervising rangers here at Tower, let me, Jim, Brady, and Brian (our SCA from last year who is visiting for a week or so) help out Travis and Lynn from Bear Management move a bison carcass away from the road. Now some might ask, "Why would you go to all that trouble to move a stinky dead bison further from the road when its already 100 yards off the road?"
I can't believe it. I've already been here almost a month and only have about two left. On one hand there's been so much going on, but it really just normal stuff for the Tower district. We've only had about 3 EMS calls only one of which I've been on and that was just driving the ambulance. There are a lot less calls than last year. On one hand, its good that people aren't getting sick or hurt as much. On the other hand, I am also not getting as much experience as last year. But its for the best so I am okay with it.
The bears certainly haven't become less active. Yesterday I was out on bear duty and had seven different bear jams. Believe it or not, that is not considered busy. None of the jams lasted more than an hour and a half which was nice. When you're on a bear jam (traffic jam caused by bears) for more than 7 hours, it can be a bit frustrating.
