Like last year, I had the opportunity to go with the Fraternity of the Desert Bighorn and build a guzzler for the bighorn sheep and other animals in the McCullough range which is right here where I live.  This was very similar to the project we did last year where they helicoptered us in and we spent the day building a water shed to catch rain water and put in four large storage tanks as well as the drinker.

The project itself is a lot of work.  The storage tanks have to go in on level ground of which there is none when you are working on the side of a mountain.   That means with picks and shovels we have to level out an area big enough for the four tanks.   What seems like an impossible task because of the hard ground and seemingly infinite number of large rocks, actually only takes several hours because of all the volunteers working together.   It reminds me of the old Barn Raisings of the past where a community would come together and help a neighbor, doing the work in a day which would have taken a month or more if left to do it alone.

For more specifics on the tanks, watershed and project itself, see my post from last year – http://goodlife.monafamily.com/desert-bighorn-guzzler/

If you want to help with the next project, go to the Fraternities page – http://www.desertbighorn.com/ and attend one of their monthly meetings or sign up for their news letter.   You don’t have to be a member, you can just show up and help.   I would also encourage you to bring your youth.   I’ve only been on a couple of these, but it seems to me that our up coming generation is missing out on what the outdoors has to offer and opportunities to render service.