Still Vacationing and future plans...

Hey guys, here we are still just hangin out.......and thank goodness i was still off for the first week of December so that I was able to participate in the Sonoran Pronghorn capture/release. The Cabeza Prieta National Wildlife Refuge in Ajo, AZ just south of where i did my pronghorn monitoring job in AZ. What they have done for the last 3 years is organized a capture/release where they capture the animals in the captive breeding pen and collar/eartag them and then release them into the wild with hopes that they will hook up with a wild herd. This year they were able to vaccinate for the EHD vector spread disease and took blood samples for a PhD student working on a genome library...anyways, i will stop with the details and let the pictures tell the story.

Here i am on one end of the stretcher taking the animal to the processing station

..moving as quickly as possible is key to this process because the animals stress out easily and can overheat and die! We had the animals at the processing station for less than 10 minutes!!

Once they are captured they put on a mask to stress them less.

....and walla! once we were done we released them back into the captive breeding pen where they will be watched to make sure the sedative does not affect them negatively and then they will open the breeding pen doors and let them go into the wild when they are ready.

Ahhhhh, the beach! we will def take you guys to the beach when you are here! we have scoped out a couple of our favorites and cannot wait to share them with our friends:)

I'm LOVIN it!!!

This is a reservoir just down the hill from our house. It is real pretty and you can walk around it and fish in it but they don't allow dogs:( lame-o...with or w/o Bilis we should check it out!

down by the water

There are a couple few mexican food places that we have found....not as as good as PHX but good...this place makes margaritas with wine...no bueno!

There is our precious puffin and all the lost leaves from our tangerine tree:)

Hey you, with the cone!! HAHA-Bilis decided that she was going to cut the shit out of the inside of her leg last monday and we couldn't figure out how she did it. It wasn't deep enough to get stitches but it was deep enough to bother her where she wouldn't stop licking it so we had to get her the cone. the first day was rough. she would not move in the cone but by the 3rd day she doesn't even know that it is there. She has been charging me at the door clippn the chair, end table and coffee table in the process. it has now become more annoying for us:)

Alright, you might have to zoom in for this one. It is REAL strange! So i started work on Wed. not doing what i was hired to do but doing some wetland consulting stuff. So we went to a site that is right along the Mexico border where the wall is and this house is like half mile from the wall. So this house has a chain link fence around it with tons of 'no trespassing' signs, a huge STOP sign, and a porta poddy outside their fence. And all along their fence they have these dummy/mannequins set up. they are all dressed in hard hats (maybe to look official and scare immigrants passing through) but they also are wearing panchos and have shoes hanging around their shoulders. It's like they want to scare them away from their property but at the same time offer them items in their journey...either way, are people REALLY afraid of mexicans like this...i think these peeps are a little looney!

Sorry it was foggy out but this was my favorite! naked girl in a pink hardhat!

Also, this week Mike came out to help Shyama out with the bike. I don't know if he has expressed to you that he has been having issues with the motorcycle since PHX and has spent endless hours taking it apart and putting it back together. He gave Paul the Previa so the cycle has become his primary means of transportation. Mike flew in to PHX and spent a few days with Paul and his fam and then he so graciously came out on Monday and they both spent all 3 full days taking it apart and putting it back together. Long story short 2 mechanical minds and all of Mike's experience paid off! They got the motorcycle up and running beautifully!


So guys...we cannot express our exitement for you to be here!!!!! We are sooooo stoked about seeing our friends! it has been too long and we are really, really, really looking forward to it! I already know it will be unforgettable:) Have a very merry Christmas and start building your ABV tolerance, bitches!!!