Putting in the Guzzler

 

"What is a guzzler?" you may ask.  Well, in short, it's a water tank for quail (and other wildlife).

More professionally, it's a water collection tank that captures and stores rainwater.  Guzzlers have three main parts: an apron, a tank, and a roof.  When it rains, water runs through the holes in the roof and into the tank.  The tank can hold hundreds of gallons of water.  The apron also catches water and allows it to run into the tank.  When it's full enough, water flows back in the apron where birds and wildlife can drink from it. 

A guzzler is a nice way to provide water for wildlife, and an affordable way to satisfy the CRP (Conservation Reserve Program) water requirements.

Since my grandma has some CRP land, one of the things she needed to do was get a quail guzzler and stick it in the ground. 

She bought one, but for some reason, it wasn't burying itself.  Therefore, Dad, Mom, Big J., Little J., and I had the pleasure of helping.

Within two evenings of hand digging, setting, leveling, and finally lowering, the quail guzzler was set! 

Some pictures below show the progress.

 

In the picture directly below, Little J. is doing her part of the digging.  See that yellowish colored thing in the top left corner?  That, my friend, is the guzzler.

 

In this next (below) picture, you can see the holes in the lid.  Here I'm doing my part...standing on the guzzler to keep it level.  It was tough...  No, not really.

 

 

The part closest to you is the apron, or what we would call the spout.  It's like a ramp, sloping to the bottom of the tank.

Below here, Big J. puts dirt around the edges and Dad keeps it level.

When we were finished setting it, we went ahead and filled it plumb full of water--kind of give it a head start till the next rain.  Here's Big J. doing his part.

Now that all the hard work is done, the little quail and wildlife should be satisfied with their new source of drinking water.