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hidden costs One of my wardens called this afternoon. He'd spent the morning patrolling one of the new pipelines being built and buried in our country. These lines tend to pass through some of the more remote places, and crews sometimes act is if they were in the wild west. One warden caught a pipeline crew barbecuing a pronghorn on a spit, like a hog. In July. And it was the crew boss's idea. Yeah. They were Texans. So anyway, it becomes a good habit to pass along their ditches regularly, just to remind them they're in a place where we care about our wildlife, and expect them to obey the laws. This pipeline is passing through a narrow mountain canyon, lined with sand dunes, scarce trees, plenty of deer, and rarely a moose. I drove this part of the line myself at the beginning of the month, and was happy to see a local fellow in charge. There'll be no poachers' barbecues with him around. But the warden was upset, just the same. Nothing illegal going on (that he could see), but... They're in snake country. Digging a long, deep, steep-sided ditch that's open for miles. Their ditch is trapping a lot of snakes. Particularly rattlesnakes. And the only shade in the ditch is the 16" pipe, and the wood blocks holding it up in the air so they can weld the pieces together. Which is the only place the snakes can take shelter. They report killing lots of rattlesnakes. More out of self defense than any hatred of snakes. Craaaap. Nothing illegal about that in this state. But dang, I never thought about that happening. And what can you do about it, except ask them to throw the snakes out instead of killing them? Unlikely at the cost per hour these folks are making. If they're killing "lots" now, what's gonna happen in September when all the snakes are on the move back to their dens? Craaap. |
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