Petrolia is Sick! — May All Your Blues Be Birds

The evening before the survey north of Laurel, the rancher met me at the gate on his ATV and escorted me to the public land. He warned me about cougars, bears, and especially snakes. I thanked him. When he left me on the plateau, he said, “I don’t understand this.” I told him I should be done by 11 AM the next morning.

At 11 AM the next morning, the rancher on his ATV was waiting at the barbed wire fence. I told him about all the birds I had found. We chatted. He seemed relieved that I had made it through the night.

It’s nice to have somebody worry about me.

Then I drove 3 hours north to Petrolia Lake.

Next morning at 5 when I tried to start the survey, my GPS unit wasn’t in my backpack.