My time here in Pinedale, Wyoming is rapidly approaching it’s end. Summer here is fleeting but beautiful. The snow on the mountains barely had time to melt away before it started accumulating again.

This is a typical aspen stand (good for elk bad for snowshoe hares)

Working in a field office so immersed in mineral development has proved to be a challenge at times, and certainly an experience I will not soon forget. I have had many opportunities to work on various different projects around the field office, but was primarily involved in surveying the for snowshoe hare habitat (aka Canada Lynx foraging habitat) in areas where an aspen regeneration/conifer reduction project is proposed. To do this we measure horizontal cover, count and measure the tree species and count the rabbit pellets. I like to keep my bear spray readily accessible in case I startle a grizzly. I have yet to see a hare or a lynx, but I haven’t given up yet.

The view as I am heading into work for the day

I also spent a large portion of time surveying the landscape for pygmy rabbit habitat as well as for raptor nests and prairie dog towns. After my initial fears of contracting the plague subsided, I decided that they can be cute… from a distance.

Jack Rabbit, Cottontail, Pygmy Rabbit...

I hope everyone is having a good time and learning a lot.

~ Audrey