Category: Photo essay

Prairies and native grasses love fire, and none like it better than our very own Minnesota Mosquito Refuge.

So….

These guys showed up last week to do a prescribed burn.

With all kinds of cool toys.

They rode along Two Drunk Creek to get on the leeward (downwind) side of the refuge.

Before starting the burn.

It didn’t take long to get the flames going.

But mostly what they got was smoke.

And so did we.

That is my pasture behind the guy with the torch. I wanted them to burn off the thatch – but no can do.  We live in a nation of lawyers.

The guy on the four-wheeler is hosing down what they don’t want to burn and the guy with the torch is lighting what they do.

It is amazing how precise they can be.

Here is a better view.  They went right down the property line.

The question of the day: is that smoke or mosquitoes?

A few small patches had to be handled separately.

Even though the flame went into the trees, there was little sign of damage.

A fire crew remained on hand in case things got dicey.

After the main burn, you can see small peat fires.  These can burn for weeks and in some cases years.

They asked the neighbors to keep an eye out for peat fires, so Scooter and I patrolled Two Drunk Creek the next morning looking for wisps of smoke.

This is what the mosquito refuge looked like in the morning. In three weeks it will be green and fresh.

This is what Scooter looked like at the end of our inspection tour.  It will be more than three weeks before he is clean and fresh.

Disclaimer: No mosquitoes were harmed in the making of this blog entry.