Rooster Rescue and More

I can't believe it's almost the end of February! We've had beautiful weather all "winter," and now, finally, we have cold weather and winter storms on the way! My supervisor and I have been busy keeping up with the park visitors--mid-February we had almost all the campsites full, boats on the lake, hikers, and a busy equestrian area! I was out emptying garbage every day, re-stocking fee envelopes, cleaning restrooms, and checking fee tubes multiple times each day, especially on the weekends--but weekdays were busy too. Twice this winter, I've emptied fire rings and cleaned campsites. Usually once is enough, but with the weather, lots of people were getting out while they had the chance!

We had one instance where we were cleaning graffiti off the shower and restroom doors and walls, and the person was caught and arrested. Other than that, we've had very few problems all winter!

My supervisor and I were driving through the park, trying to catch up with some campers we needed to talk to, when visitors flagged us down and told us there was a rooster hanging out in the Day Use Area! We went with them to see it, and finally caught it--it took two rangers and three park visitors to catch this thing! The rooster had been dumped in the park--at least it was close to water and had the grassy area to itself. (We weren't expecting it to live as long as it did down there, with as many coyotes and owls as we have around the park)

My supervisor knows a woman in the Valley who has chickens and goats. She wanted the rooster, so we loaded it up and took it to her house. This is its new home!

 

Last winter, I had bought a Kindle Fire and a camera for the park. It's been suggested that we try to keep up with new technology and finally yesterday I got the Kindle out, charged it, and downloaded the Facebook App and Instagram App. I finally joined Twitter and Instagram for myself, and I really ended up liking Instagram, even better than Facebook. I thought it would be fun to use it for a more "behind the scenes" look at the park and our staff. We'll see how that actually goes, but it will be fun. Our Instagram handle is @washoelakestatepark and I'm going to try to post daily, kind of like I had planned to do with my blog......ha ha.