Buffalo Dan's Bison

This is the first blog post I've made directly from the ranch thanks to a mobile broadband device I just purchased for the surveillance network.  Once integrated into the network, the device will also have the dual purpose of providing us with internet access while we are staying in the scamp.  Eventually it will be placed in a weather proof outdoor housing and linked to wireless (wifi) router and raspberry pi server.  My target date for this is this winter, but we shall see how that goes.  Most of the programming for this system is done an all that remains is constructing the outdoor weather-proof housing and building a small photovoltaic system for the power supply.  

Came back early from my break because I've completely finished with the temporary bison fencing and gates and wanted to start working on the remote monitoring system. This system is going to be built using a wifi connected network of solar powered Raspberry Pi computers combined with video cameras and sensors controlled by Atmel microcontrollers.  The goal is to be able to remotely access this network using a mobile broadband device also solar powered.   Also, as promised in an earlier post, here are pictures from the ranch.  Temporary Gate One.  Both gates had to have an extension fabricated and attached because I miscalculated the necessary length.  The extensions were painted black and bolted to the gate frame.  Then wire was stretched over the full assembly.  Stretching the wire over the gate is a lot more work than it looks, but when you compare what I would pay for a gate of equal size and strength, it's worth it.  The second gate completed. 

I'm going down to the ranch tonight, but wanted to give an overview of what Jess and I have been doing over the last few weeks. During our previous time on the ranch, Jess and I were able to finish installing the three water-based fence posts that allow the bison to access the edge of our pond without wading in and filling it with poop.  I've heard from some people that bison won't do this the way cattle will, but I've heard from others that they will do it during hot weather.  This limited access gives me the chance to test which belief is true.  If it turns out that they like to stand in the water all day and poop in it, I'll fence off the pond and install a cattle water trough.  In addition to the pond fencing, we also finished upgrading the electric fence from a 0.5 joule energizer to a 3 joule energizer.  Though the 0.5 joule energizer was supposed to be able to adequately charge a fence like mine, it didn't.  The new system is very similar to the previ