Ikh Nart Day 6: Plants in the cold

It was a later than usual start and Susan, Bernie and I went out with Odmaa and Ankha to do plants again. It was really cold - a biting wind seemed to get through all our layers and it was not easy to be patient as we counted and recorded all the species.

We were busy at one site when a herdsman came by on a beautiful grey horse. He stopped to find out what we were doing and Ankha explained about the recording and measuring. He invited us to ride his horse and we didn't need to be asked twice! It was so nice, and completely unexpected :)

We'd just got back, when there was news of a snake in the dining ger, which sounded exciting so we went for a look. It was a Pallas's Coluber, so not poisonous and we got to hold it. This was a big moment for Bernie, who could hardly believe she was holding a snake, but here's the evidence - no tricks, that is a real, live snake!

In the evening, Tom gave a presentation about hedgehogs and finished up with a video of cute baby hedgehogs with extra high aah factor.