I became a coffee drinker about 12 years ago.  Funny, that’s right around the time I started working for the Game Commission.  Coincidence, I’m sure.

While visiting a friend, I was introduced to marvel of the Keurig.  That’s when I went from a coffee drinker to a coffee lover.  After experiencing the perfectly brewed cup, I immediately purchased one for our house.  We have never looked back.  That was about 10 years ago.

Around the unofficial start of summer, our beloved Keurig told me she needed to be descaled.  Um, ok.  She had never mentioned this to me before so I was a little concerned.  I dug out the user’s manual and located the instructions for the descaling process.  Step 4 said that the vinegar I just loaded into the reservoir needed to sit for 4 hours.  I started this process BEFORE I had my morning cup of joe.  Note to self: read ALL instructions before starting any project. 

I waited the recommended 4 hours, flushed the system, and was ready to roll.  But my Keurig was not.  Instead she was yelling at me.  Descale was no longer calmly displayed but was now blinking!  The manual said eminent damage would occur if I didn’t heed the flashing alert.  I began to panic.  No retailer in a 50-mile radius of my house sold them.  Ordering a new one would take days.  What would I do without my perfect cup to start the day?  How could this happen?  Why would she do this to me?  The world was coming to an end.

The other coffee drinker in the house (he’s not nearly as dramatic or fussy about his AM beverage) casually reminded me that our coffee maker (who was as old as a 5th grader) owed us nothing.  Doing the math and being conservative, I estimate that she brewed over 4,500 cups of coffee without so much as a hiccup.  That is a lot of coffee for our little countertop barista. Yes, that does bring things into perspective.  

Recently, someone asked for the total number of deer captures that were logged into our database.  The answer = 5,838 over a 16 year period.  WOW!  

Here are a few more stats:

  • 5,109 INDIVIDUAL deer captured
  • 1,575 VHF transmitters/collars deployed
  • 253 GPS collars deployed

These deer were part of 10 different research projects that have:

Averaged out, we have captured about 1 deer per day for the last 16 years.  We all know these captures don’t occur year round but instead are squeezed into about 3 months.  

And let’s talk about recaptures.  We were surprised to learn that once a deer is captured, there is a 14% chance it will be caught again.  That’s higher than we expected but that’s what the data tell us.

So when the trapping is tough or the fawns are all vanilla, it’s good to remember these things.  

Oh, and in case you are wondering, my faithful Keurig has made a full recovery and is back on the job.  I guess after 10 years, she just needed a little vacation.  

-Jeannine Fleegle, biologist
PGC Deer and Elk Section

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