Rattlesnake, Part II

This week was filled with much of the same kind of work as last week. We went out to do vegetation monitoring one day, and paragrine falcon and golden eagle monitoring for a couple days. Something new that we got to do was a Mexican spotted owl survey. The owl is highly endangered, but the BLM biologists know of a place they have nested in the past, so we went to check it out. On our way through the canyons we all of the sudden heard the sound of a rattle! Yes, we came across another rattlesnake! But we soon realized we were in no danger of being attacked, as it had a squirrel shoved half way down its throat! Our supervisor said she never sees rattlesnakes unless Lily and I are with her. We're either good luck charms or bad luck charms; I suppose it depends on whether you want to see a rattlesnake or not. We didn't end up seeing or hearing any owls, but the trail went through some cool slot canyons, and the sunset made the rocks a beautiful glowing orange, and we had to hike out in the dark, with our dorky little head lamps on. Another new thing we did this week was a riparian habitat assessment. We basically determined the health of a little mountain stream. While doing this, we saw two pigmy rabbits, another highly endangered species. The literature says these little creatures require a sagebrush habitat, but there was minimal sagebrush at each place we saw the rabbits, so a habitat study is sure to arise from these sightings.