I took Maille out of school on Tuesday and Finn out on Wednesday to volunteer with me a the annual roundup at the National Bison Range. The kids got their own job - a dedicated station working one of the gates in the corral/chute system so bison are directed to the right location. Some have blood drawn for disease surveillance, others are being sent to the Wind River Reservation in Wyoming to help start up a new Tribal herd there, and all the calves have to get their individual markers and have blood and hair drawn for genetic records.
Maille and Finn both did great, of course... they both were especially good with voluntarily taking on some additional duty as science interpreters -- teaching groups of kids that came by with parents or teachers to watch roundup activities for a bit. In exchange for missing school for a day, each one types a 1-page essay (or makes a powerpoint presentation - their choice) on their experience and what they learned. The refuge gets free help, the kids get out of school, the teachers see them learning something and bringing it back to the classroom, and I get points as a dad who occasionally comes up with cool things they can plug into... Wins all around.
Last photo - a monster bull elk that we saw on the drive in Wednesday morning...
