Here is my new study species, aren't they beautiful?!
So, i thought i would give you a low down as to what i am doing for work now since it is not what i previously described, really. Nonethelesss, exciting and prosperous!

I start work based on when the sun rises, now it is 4 am that i leave our place in Buckeye in the dead of the summer i will be leaving for work at like 2 am. Our office is in Gila Bend, AZ (about 40 miles). It is located on the Gila Bend Air Force Auxiliary Range, which you have to be issued an ID in order to get on. Little did i know i was gonna have to get security clearance from Luke Air Force Base for this job, good thing i don't have any felonies:)

I get to my office, pick up my work truck and head down to range 1 of the Barry Goldwater Shooting Range. The range consists of 2 million acres that the AF uses to train it's F-16 pilots to go to war, so they bomb shit, drop misssiles and fire at targets all over the range.

Once we get to the range we drive another 15 miles in where the other biologists pick up there trucks, get our telemtry radios and antennae and decide who is going to what mountain. Drive another 5 miles in and hike a mountain at dawn with your scope, tripod, telemetry stuff and pack. We get to the mountain top just before the sun is rising and start looking for the Sonoran pronghorn. They camoflauge very well in the desert except for their white rumps that stick out like a sore thumb with the dawn light shining on them...essentially i am looking for white ass at dawn.

Once we spot a group we locate it on a gridded map that the AF also has and continue to do so for about an hour-hour and a half. We call in our sightings to a commander for the AF and determine what targets are within 5 km of the sightings and will be shut down for the day. You cant drop bombs on endangered species...that would be bad! We come down, all the while communicating with the air force traffic controller letting him know where we are at all times.

We get back to the office in Gila Bend around 10 am do a bird survey, fill out reports for our daily sightings and i have been getting home around 1.30 in the afternoon which has been awesome except for the going to sleep at 8pm.

Things i didn't realize would be an issue: the frequency of undocumented aliens, apparetly it is a very regular thing to see UDA's (so many acronyms in the military). They have never been a problem but we carry extra water for them specifically. It is protocal to call security and have them picked up. the worst thing that has happened with the pronghorn crew is that they busted a window of a truck and took water....and they left pastries. The ones we need to concern ourselves with are the ones carrying big black packs-drug runners. But becuase they have scouts we usually dont see them.

the other thing is the massive amount of rattlers in the desert. The crew has said that you see TONS of wildlife (HOORAY!!!) mostly rattle snakes; mohaves and western diamondbacks. We have mountain lions, bobcats, mule deer, gila monsters, tarantulas, scorpions, desert tortoise, etc.

I feel really good about the move and the job. The only adjustment will be the sleeping schedule which i have been trying to adjust responsibly to. Shyama was approved for unemployment so he is feeling a sigh of relief and is able to relax for a little while before jumping back into work. thank goodness, after these last 8 months i love having a house husband!!

Buckeye is just like any other suburb in Phoenix except it is a little less developed but everywhere else is over developed. We went into Tempe yesterday to meet an old professor/friend of mine and i took Shyam to Four Peaks brewery, i had only been talking about it for 3 years and it was just as i remember except the 50 minute drive as opposed to the 5 minute drive i had before:(

Other than that still putting pictures up with all our extra wall space. got a hiking book and already expecting our first guest: Justin is coming in on Wednesday for a visit:) Please get on the blog and update us with what is new with you:)!!

take care, a