Volunteers Brave Extremes to Count Bighorn Sheep in the Desert
By Susan Valot
July 9, 2017
... We made our way up to “second crossing.” This is where Coyote Creek crosses the road for the second time. The first crossing was bone-dry. Second crossing is where we would camp out for 2½ days to count sheep for the 47th year of the Anza-Borrego Bighorn Sheep Count, which attracted counters from as far as Arizona and Oregon and from as near as San Diego and Los Angeles.
The second crossing of Coyote Creek is one of the watering holes for peninsular bighorn sheep in Anza-Borrego Desert State Park. Shortly beyond this, a gate closes the area during the summer so bighorn sheep are not bothered as they try to seek out water in extreme heat. (Susan Valot/KQED)
This road up a canyon wash is pretty much the same route explorer Juan Bautista de Anza took on his trek from Mexico to establish the first non-native settlement at San Francisco Bay. Somewhere out here is a marker commemorating that.
But on this adventure, we weren’t here to look for a marker. We were here to look for peninsular bighorn sheep, also known as Nelson bighorn sheep, as extreme heat forces them down to known watering holes. The movement allows volunteers to see the sheep and count them, determining how many lambs have survived since they were born, and scope out the health of the herd.
https://ww2.kqed.org/news/2017/07/09/volunteers-brave-extremes-to-count-bighorn-sheep-in-the-desert/
The Moon is Waxing Gibbous (55% of Full)
Counting bighorn sheep in Anza-Borrego State Park
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July 13, 2017 05:02PM |
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KenS
Volunteers Brave Extremes to Count Bighorn Sheep in the Desert
By Susan Valot
July 9, 2017
... We made our way up to “second crossing.” This is where Coyote Creek crosses the road for the second time. The first crossing was bone-dry. Second crossing is where we would camp out for 2½ days to count sheep for the 47th year of the Anza-Borrego Bighorn Sheep Count, which attracted counters from as far as Arizona and Oregon and from as near as San Diego and Los Angeles.
I wonder how many sheep did Susan count before she fell asleep.
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