Buffalo Dan's Bison

The long pursued goal of completing the temporary electric fence has been realized.   The following pictures trace the full length of the fence from one side to the other.  One of two locations where the temporary electric fence meets up with the permanent woven-wire fence.  The fence as it moves south through the 800 foot corridor I cut through a forest area.  Jess tied all of the the bright colored pieces of plastic on the top line.  We hope that this might help wild animals and the future bison to see the fence and adjust to its presence.  It is also intended to reduce the possibility of any trespassers walking into the fence.  The fence emerging from the other side of the 800 foot corridor. A gate that allows vehicles to access the southern portion of the property. The freshly painted steel gate frame that will be hung from the braces in the previous photo.  A freshly pained t-post puller is propped up next to the gate on the right. More fence leading

This past break I only had two nights off, but I was able to get some more fencing work done.  The three water-based posts are nearly ready to be installed.  They consist of a horizontal tire base filled with concrete in which I can insert metal t-posts.  I could have just directly embedded the t-posts in the concrete, but I wanted to have the flexibility to be able to switch out the metal posts with fiberglass or other types of posts if necessary.  Jess and I collected the tires a few weeks ago along the part of our property that boarders a road.  I then welded some pieces of scrap steel to one end of three foot-and-a-half long square steel tubes.  During the last break, I laid each tire on its side and filled it with concrete.  Each tire took about three bags of Sakrete to fill.  Each time a tire was filled, I set one of the tubes in the concrete (scrap-steel-end down), so that the tube jutted upright out of the center of the tire.  I also pulled three five-foot metal t-posts out of

Working at night on the ranch has its ups and downs.  On the one hand, the temperature is much cooler and there are fewer distractions.  A cooler temperature is important because I am able to work longer without overheating and only being able to see the objects made visible by my headlamp tends to keep me more focused on the tasks at hand.  On the other hand, certain tasks, such as cutting trees, are much more difficult and sometimes dangerous and it's extremely lonely.  When my nights off fall on weekdays, such as this past break period, Jess is unable to join me, which makes things even worse.  During those breaks, each night seems longer than the one before and the darkness of the night begins to feel more enveloping.  It's in these times that I get the most work done, because working is how I cope with it. A cross-forest section of a part of the fence I finished last month.  At the time that I cleared this section using the brush cutter, the vines and brush we

The first section of electric fencing is completely finished.  It's a 4 1/2 to 5 feet tall four-wire fence with the second from the top wire cold and all the other's hot.  The wires are supported by fiberglass posts spaced 50 feet.  They are spaced 10 inches and attached to the posts with 12.5 gauge pieces of wire that had I bent into clips.    I've also taken photos of the section of woven-wire fence I erected during my previous time at the ranch.   One part.  The other other side of the hill.  Lespedeza capitata is still flowering, but should be finishing up soon.  Once it's done we'll check the beehives and see if there's enough honey to harvest this year.  Sorghastrum nutans or Indian Grass is a native prairie grass that once covered large areas of the US and Canada.  It's flowering now in our pasture.  A clump of Sorghastrum nutans from a distance.  Also, I managed to get a photograph of the turkeys. Firs