October 2018
It’s Almost Time!
Bighorn Institute’s Annual Party and Golf Classic fundraiser is in a few short weeks on November 18th & 19th at Stone Eagle Golf Club! It’s not too late to join us for one or both events. The Annual Party will be Sunday November 18th at the ultra-exclusive Aerie restaurant at Stone Eagle, which is set at nearly 1,000 ft. elevation in the Santa Rosa foothills with unbeatable views. We’ll have fantastic food and drinks, a live and silent auction, raffles and more! For all the golfers out there, we have our Golf Classic Monday November 19th at Stone Eagle Golf Club hosted by golf legend, Dave Stockton. Golfers will enjoy a light breakfast, a professional’s clinic before tee off, lunch on the course and an awards reception following play. If you can’t make it, you can still support the event with a donation. Every little bit helps and all proceeds benefit Bighorn Institute’s conservation efforts for the endangered Peninsular bighorn sheep. For details or to sign up, visit our website: www.bighorninstitute.org/fundraisers or call our office at 760-346-7334. We hope you will join us!
Have You Seen It?!
We have an amazing new billboard on the westbound I-10 approximately two miles past Bob Hope Drive! Thanks to the generosity of Lamar Advertising for donating the space, we have a larger-than-life ad for our upcoming fundraiser!
Desert Learning Academy
In late October, we had a great group of 7th graders from Desert Learning Academy visit
the Institute to learn all about the bighorn sheep in the Coachella Valley. They will be doing a research paper on the bighorn so they were interested in the issues facing the sheep, what has been done to help them and how the Institute has helped keep the endangered Peninsular bighorn from disappearing. It’s always nice to have a group of students eager to learn about these beautiful bighorn! If you’d like us to give your group a presentation, please give us a call at (760) 346-7334 or email us at bi@bighorninstitute.org.
Member Hike
In early October, we had our first member hike of the season and got extremely lucky with a close encounter with 9 bighorn sheep! We’re talking cell phone picture close and it was an exhilarating experience for our guests! Our next Member Hike will be Friday, November 9th at 8:00am. We would love to have you join us, but space is limited, no dogs, and you must RSVP for this first come first served hike. To sign up or for more information, please call us at 760-346-7334 or email us at bi@bighorninstitute.org.
Sheep Hit on Hwy 74
Highway 74 south of Palm Desert remains a treacherous road not only for us to drive,
but for our local wildlife. At the end of October, another bighorn sheep was hit and killed by a car. Unfortunately, this is the sixth bighorn hit and killed on this stretch of the highway this year. We have lobbied for and Caltrans has installed more bighorn crossing signs as well as yellow flashing beacons, but so far, sheep are continuing to be hit. Please be very careful driving this road and look for bighorn sheep.
Rain
In mid-October, we received nearly 1” of rain at the Institute. This recent rain brings our total at the Institute to approximately 2.5” for the year. In just 2 weeks we’ve seen new vegetation growth with grasses and other annuals and existing vegetation rejuvenated with green-up, which is great for the sheep and other critters!
Wish List
**we’ve been ticking things off the list, thanks to a generous few, but still need your help!**
computer server - $700 – we are revamping our office computer system with an external server
for file safety
office computer - $500 – to replace an old, refurbished computer
golf cart batteries - $800 – our flatbed cart that we use to move animals needs 6 new batteries
new golf cart seat - $300 – we use golf carts for captive herd maintenance, but the sun is
damaging to the seats
LED office lights - $240 – we’re converting our florescent lights to LED’s saves energy &
money