I'm starting night shifts after the current break period, so I'm gradually staying up later at night and sleeping later into the day. Now that we have bison on our property, working during the night time has become a little more complicated. Like many mammals, bison appear to rely significantly on their ability to see potential threats. I don't really know how well they can see in the dark, but I do know that they tend to find bright lights fairly distressing. In particular, they seem to find headlamps very disturbing. Last week I discovered this when I was walking along the fence-line during the evening hours. It was getting very dark, so I put on my headlamp and turned it on. I hadn't realized that the bison had been standing only twenty feet away watching me and when I turned on the headlamp they completely freaked out and ran away in a blind panic. I found them to have a very similar reaction to vehicle headlights. The bison don't seem to care about the headlights when they are pointing in some other direction, but if the light shines in their direction, they panic.
As a solution to this issue I have begun relying heavily on the night vision monocle I had purchased earlier for observing the bison at night. Now, when I need to work in a particular area of the ranch at night, I will wear the monocle while I walk to and from the work area. During the walk, I will move slowly while systematically scanning my surroundings. More often than not I will spot the herd bedded down near the top of a hill. Once I've spotted them, I make an effort to not walk any closer to them than I have to. Eventually they detect me, stand up, and face me as I pass. Once I've started moving away from them, they will usually sit back down and continue resting. When I arrive at my work area, I then switch to the headlamp and us it on a low-intensity setting. When I'm done working, I switch back to the night vision monocle and make my way back to the trailer.
If I need to drive a vehicle through the ranch, I will follow a similar strategy. While moving through the ranch at night, I wear the night vision monocle and turn on the low intensity parking lights. Neither the dim amber front lights, nor the red rear lights seem to bother the bison. These lights have little navigation utility when used with the naked eye. With night vision, however, parking lights seem as bright as regular headlights. Obviously I only use this method on the ranch and immediately remove the monocle and turn on the headlights when I reach the exit gate. I tend to be a bit of a stickler when it comes to compliance with the law.
As a solution to this issue I have begun relying heavily on the night vision monocle I had purchased earlier for observing the bison at night. Now, when I need to work in a particular area of the ranch at night, I will wear the monocle while I walk to and from the work area. During the walk, I will move slowly while systematically scanning my surroundings. More often than not I will spot the herd bedded down near the top of a hill. Once I've spotted them, I make an effort to not walk any closer to them than I have to. Eventually they detect me, stand up, and face me as I pass. Once I've started moving away from them, they will usually sit back down and continue resting. When I arrive at my work area, I then switch to the headlamp and us it on a low-intensity setting. When I'm done working, I switch back to the night vision monocle and make my way back to the trailer.
If I need to drive a vehicle through the ranch, I will follow a similar strategy. While moving through the ranch at night, I wear the night vision monocle and turn on the low intensity parking lights. Neither the dim amber front lights, nor the red rear lights seem to bother the bison. These lights have little navigation utility when used with the naked eye. With night vision, however, parking lights seem as bright as regular headlights. Obviously I only use this method on the ranch and immediately remove the monocle and turn on the headlights when I reach the exit gate. I tend to be a bit of a stickler when it comes to compliance with the law.