Rabbit Creek

Sunday was my Creek Monitoring day, so I met up with my partner at his house promptly at 9:00. I say promptly, but honestly I was early. Those of you who know me well know that I am chronically early for just about everything in my life. Mother says I was born early even! But, I tried really hard to be there on time since I know that he is busy with his family and his business and doesn’t need me hanging around unnecessarily.

Anyway, we gathered up the kits, calibrated the Hanah meter, and headed out to the creek. Once there, he grabbed the bucket while I set up on the tailgate of his truck.

Our creek is slightly swollen from the recent rains, and is running beautifully despite a few logs jamming up the curve. It amazes me that it actually looks different each time I go there: we’re on a twice-a-month schedule at the moment, as opposed to the once-a-month schedule set during winter months. A lot of water goes thru there, changing the banks subtly on a daily basis. I guess that’s one reason they have us take pictures each time.

Another thing that amazes me is the mosquitoes. I associate mosquitoes with standing water, and Rabbit Creek is most definitely MOVING water. Where are all those bugs coming from? And of course, I never remember to bring bug dope: I’m scratching at the back of my neck as we speak, thanks to several lucky mosquitoes who managed to avoid getting squished.

We were able to do most of the tests right there at the site except for the Dissolved Oxygen test, and that only because we had forgotten to bring a waste container with us. We don’t want to be dumping chemicals anywhere near our creek, since the whole point of this operation is to monitor the water quality – not make it worse.

The dog that lives at the house nearby was not out on his leash when we arrived. He is a small beagle type dog, and is always quite vocal with us. He’s nice but cautious, but got completely won over when my partner gave him some beef jerky. Each time we go to the site, we always bring him some – and almost always have to go over and untangle him from the bushes, too.

When we were packing up our kits to head back to the garage and finish the tests, he came out of the house. He wasn’t on his leash so came over to us. Again, he was cautious… but he wanted his jerky, so when I crouched down to the ground he came over to sniff at me, and allowed me to pet him.

Back at my partner’s house, we quickly to the remaining tests done and wrapped up the whole thing till next time.

All is good in my creek yet again!