..we cut across the Rio Grande in 2016....this shot was from the REP to the LEP, only 2682' through the salt cedar and russian olives...
We cut a similar 1800+ft tunnel thru Bois de arc thicket on the White Oak Mitigation Boundary about 25yrs ago that took 4 people 12hrs to clear using machete, ditch bank blade and chain saw. We could not cut thru the stuff anywhere to get around and spread out so there was only room for one person to cut at a time so we all took turns cutting while the others got a breather and sharpened the tools.
Well.......I see you gave the pigs a nice trail to use, that is very kind of you.
Incidentally, we're did that horrible salt cedar come from to take over so much so fast? I assume it is not native.
That's real work. We used chain saws and brush cutters(dangerous as hell but effective) I personally like the Parang over the machete, canoes etc. I have deep respect for the older and more hands on surveyor crews.
I think blame roundly goes to the Spanish. They brought it with the Conquistadors. And didnt see one hog, but saw face to face at 30 meters, an honest to god Oryx. Crazy.
There are some exotic animal ranches for hunters around this area.
Some strange sightings have been made.
In the late 1980s, we stopped at the gate to survey a couple of hundred acres and was met by a full-grown ostrich in attack mode headed our direction with wings flapping, legs leaping and raised to gut us and we decided to not do that job and went to start the next folder in my project case.
Appears that some of the ostrich farmers found out when the plan to build processing plants failed and their investments turned into supper and they got tired of eating them, they simply opened the gate and set them free. That began the great ostrich hunt to eliminate them and soon afterward they were gone.
I have seen an Oryx on a TV show and they are very large and equally impressive animals.
You have to respect the tools and know-how to sharpen and use and maintain them properly. It is becoming a lost art in cutting line properly and how to cut trees and limbs quickly and to reduce their regrowth and to instruct clients on the seasonal periods to maintain the boundaries with the least amount of labor required.
Brush ape or Brush ninja were once well respected names for crew members because of their abilities with the hand tools and amount of brush they could clear in a day.
Thru the years, I have turned many a teen into an All State Lineman and/or Defensive Linebacker during the summer months by working them hard for a couple of months in the NE Texas forests.
These clearing machines on the front of Bobcat and Bulldozers make quick work of this procedure today.
Here is another exotic animal recently found in Texas.
https://www.yahoo.com/huffpost/wild-hog-texas-golf-course-195839206.html
Summer of '91, early one morning spent over fifteen minutes digging, chipping, and hacking away at a concrete wall footing, at the base of a block wall, to expose a 5/8"ir for the rear property corner abutting a utility corridor.
Mid-summer morning, humid enough to swim in, and was soaked down to my socks in sweat. When I had finished digging and chipping, I stood up to stretch and was face to face with a pair of those googly-eyed birds, who had craned their necks over the six foot block wall to watch me.
Scared the hell out of me.