Interesting Find In Granite Mountains

I went on a hike into Granite Mountains on 11-20 to the places I like out there and I found an interesting thing. Its made of metal and has a round gear like wheel. Anyway it had a serial number ( ML-367/AM ) on it, and I did a Google search of the number and to my supprize I found out exactly what the thing was. Its called a " lauching reel " and it is part of a weather ballon system for launching meteorlogical radiosonde weather ballons for the US army. Dang! I thought for sure I had a part from an alien spacecraft :-) You can see what it looks like by going to the website:

http://cgi.ebay.com/Army-Weather-Balloon-LAUNCHING-REEL-Mint-Kite-String_W0QQitemZ200176200337QQihZ010QQcategoryZ55807QQcmdZViewItem

I found it way out in a remote area of Granite Mountains where there are no roads or ORV traffic, and its too rocky for horses to even get out there so it must have fallen out of the sky. That Google is sure amazing for finding out stuff. I never thought I would find out what that little device was.
Also during the same hike, my ravenous pooch Sparky got the munchies, and came up with a little snack, that being a Chucker Sandwich. Chuckers are birds that are similiar in form to Quail, but they are about four times bigger, and they are light brown instead of grey like Quail. They are quick flyers and take off fast when approached. Sparky snagged this one down in the bushes of a dry stream channel. I put a photo of Sparky with a mouthful of Chucker at the Wizard's pictures link below. Its the last photo on page 42. Check it out, but be prepared for Blood :-)