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<\/a>Bear poop!<\/p><\/div>\n
I\u2019m finishing up the second week of my internship with the BLM in Grand Junction, Colorado, and in spite of my mentor trying to get me to put elk poop in my mouth (he swears he wouldn\u2019t have actually let me do it), it\u2019s already turning out to be an amazing experience. I\u2019m working in some of the most remote and beautiful places I\u2019ve ever been. I\u2019ve seen desert bighorn sheep up close. I\u2019m learning the names of Colorado flora, and by the end of the summer I will have greatly improved my plant identification skills. After spending so much of my life learning things in a classroom, I can\u2019t believe that I finally get to spend every day outside, learning by doing.<\/p>\n
Fieldwork can be a bit of a challenge, what with temperatures in the 90\u2019s and 100\u2019s, gnats, and lack of restrooms. On top of that I\u2019m still adjusting to the high altitude, having come from sea level, and later in the season I\u2019ll have thunderstorms to look forward to. However, it\u2019s turning out to be an amazing learning experience. I get to go to work every day and be surrounded by incredible landscapes. I can\u2019t wait to see what the rest of the summer has to offer.<\/p>\n
A collared lizard<\/p><\/div>\n My mentor Terry holds out a dried-out piece of elk scat. \u201cWe\u2019re only looking for freshly deposited droppings,\u201d he says. \u201cThe trick to telling if it\u2019s fresh is to see if it has a nice ripe taste. Just try it … Continue reading <\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"