evan's ant village log

Day 347 (part 1)

I gathered bunches of seeds from many of the different plants I encountered on our trip to the Grand Canyon and back. Maybe some of them will grow here on the lab.

Survivalists Weekend

Originally this was going to be called Spirko Weekend, after that popular survival podcast guy, you know, Jack Spirko. But when Jack heard about this workshop, he was all like, "Montana in March? No way!" So we figured this workshop was just too hardcore to have Jack's name attached to it, hence Survivalists Weekend.

We started off Survivalists Weekend with attempting to start a friction fire. We each made bow drills and worked at it for a while. Josh and Kai both made really excellent bow drills, at least compared to my shoddy contraption, but the closest anyone got with a bow drill was a lot of smoke. Fortunately, we weren't without alternative fire-starting tools, like flint and steel, magnesium striking rods, matches, and lighters.

Day 347 (part 2)

Survivalists Weekend

After bow drill practice we moved on to bow and arrow practice. Folks took turns shooting at a 1ft by 2ft target at 15, 30, 45, and 60 ft.

While we were practicing our archery skills, we noticed something moving up on top of the berm on the southern border of Ava. After some investigation we discovered a weasel's hideout from which we extricated a partially devoured rabbit. Naturally, a weasel hanging out this close to the ducks was alarming, so we continued our search.

The weasel itself, still dressed in it's bright white winter coat, was soon spotted just a few dozen feet away in the bushes. It was watching us from what it thought was a safe distance. I fired an arrow at it but a small tree blocked the shot and the weasel retreated deeper into the brush.

I thought the weasel had escaped until someone spotted it again, peering out at us from under cover. I fired another arrow, and this time my aim was true. To be honest I was somewhat stunned that I had managed to hit it. Sean, who had considerable hunting and field-dressing experience, stepped forward quickly to finish the weasel off and begin the process of dressing the animal. Soon we would dine on weasel.

Day 347 (part 3)

Survivalists Weekend

Sean deftly and skillfully demonstrated the skinning and gutting of a weasel. Excellent work, Sean!

Sara then salted the hide to preserve it and Sean cleaned the carcass in preparation for cooking it. Thanks, Sean and Sara!

Day 347 (part 4)

Survivalists Weekend

The weasel's guts were fed to the ducks.

In celebration of a successful first day of Survivalists Weekend and the continued survival of our beloved ducks, we had a little party around the campfire.

Stories were told, songs were sung, and instruments were played. A merry evening!

Day 348 (part 1)

Survivalists Weekend

On the second day of Survivalists Weekend we built a debris shelter.

We began by piling up lots of fir boughs, the leftovers from limbing hundreds of junkpoles. This made a fine mattress-like floor.

We used a couple existing fence posts we had already put in as supports and Kai figured out how to roast thin sticks over a fire to make them bendy enough to use as fasteners. Much like that video of that cool diagonal fence. By using this method, we were able to build the debris shelter with nothing but wood. Future fence-building on Ava will likely incorporate this method as well.

Day 348 (part 2)

Survivalists Weekend

After Kai fastened the tops of the posts we put a pole between them as a beam and started laying long junk poles across that as the shed roof. Then we just threw more fir and pine boughs on top.

The beam started sagging slightly under the weight of all the boughs so we lifted it up and wedged a couple additional support posts under it.

Finally we leaned some whole unlimbed junkpole-sized trees up against the sides until only the south side was left open.

Day 348 (part 3)

Sean cooked up the weasel with some rice and lentils and some of us were brave enough to try it. It was the best weasel I've ever tasted. Thanks Sean!

Josh, Sharla, Kai, Sara, and I played a 5-player variation of the Permaculture Pie Party Game, a board game I invented that uses the permaculture playing cards. Sharla won most of the victories as Willie Smits.

Kai and Sara spent the night in the debris shelter they helped to build. They said it was pretty comfy. I'll have to try it out one of these nights before it turns into compost.

Day 349 (part 1)

Survivalists Weekend

We went on a hike up the mountain to the south of the lab to see what we could see. We did a little bit of plant identification on the way.

Also found a tick. This is only the second tick I've seen since coming out to Montana almost a year ago, which is good because those little bloodsucking fiends creep me out. Fortunately no one seemed to have any ticks that actually latched on.

Day 349 (part 2)

On the top of the hill to the south of the lab, henceforth referred to as Solar Ridge, we saw a flower that seemed to take many different forms. Some had five petals, others six, and some even more. The petals were mostly yellow but some had white spots. We're thinking it might be a kind of buttercup.

Also saw a brave little green beetle that seemed to be enjoying the view.

The view of the lab from Solar Ridge is quite nice. From left to right you can see the tipi, and just barely make out Cooper Cabin up north, Allerton Abbey towards the middle, and over to the east some of the berms, tents, and structures-in-progress of ant village, with that orange dragon Rexcavator hiding behind some trees.

Whew!! what a trip... thanks for taking us along ;) Extraordinary photos, IMO... loved the juxtaposition between the beauties of immense views and minute views ;) What a world we have.....