Any Outdoor Careers that don't involve working with people??

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NLDer
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15 Oct 2007, 3:06 am

Does anyone know of any careers that are in nature, working with animals and not people?

I'm trying to decide on a career that doesn't involve working with people.. ideally not much contact with a boss or co-workers.. The only job I found that was similar was over-the-road delivery work... but it was physically very demanding and driving in heavy traffic was stressful. I'm wondering if anyone knows of any outdoor jobs/careers working in nature that don't involve having to deal with people very much?

It was suggested that I might like being a forest ranger, but the more I studied the job description, the more I realized how one would have to have advanced communication skills.. A Forest ranger often carries a gun and has to deal with drunken hunters and issue citations, much like a police officer..... NOT for me.... I don't have the people skills since --- I'm on the "autistic spectrum"....

I've had office jobs.. even worked as a word processor, stuck in the back of an office with no windows.. no co-workers to talk to.. although, there weren't any people around to badger me either, so that was nice... BUT, I couldn't stand it and got really depressed not being able to even see outdoors.. I need a job in nature somehow, ideally working with animals.... I volunteered at a wildlife care center for animal rehabilitation, but had to be rudely, meanly bossed around by the staff and even yelled at for not folding their laundry correctly.. horribly sad situation.. I was mistreated and laughed at basically and realized that a couple of the staff didn't want me there, so I stopped volunteering for humiliation.. I DID like working with the animals though, just not the people.. Being that it was enclosed in a building/office with other workers, it might as well have been like working in a gossipy, manipulative, competitive office environment..

Any ideas out there? Have any of you found a job where you can feel half-way comfortable in that is outdoors ideally and doesn't involve alot of people contact? Thanks alot if any one has any suggestions, I'd really appreciate it.

Laura



Tim_Tex
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15 Oct 2007, 5:23 am

Geologists are outdoors a lot, and I don't think there's that much social interaction there.

Tim


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15 Oct 2007, 6:12 am

Fire watch, sit in a tower for weeks, most people cannot take it.

Timber crusier, going out in the forest and measuring trees. Somebody has to check the growth rate.

Hard work but lots of it, Hoedad, replanting clearcuts.

I knew people who picked fruit, With the illeagal thing they do not dare, and growers are unable to find pickers.

Cowboy, they still exist. Most have taken to driving truck.

No people is hard, a few sometimes more likely.



poopylungstuffing
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15 Oct 2007, 2:55 pm

Bicycle courier!! !!
I was one for several months when I was younger. It was awesome!!



jjstar
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15 Oct 2007, 3:17 pm

I think being a photographer of nature is the ideal job all round. Maybe you can get into that?


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woodsman25
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15 Oct 2007, 5:25 pm

I wanted a job as a forrest ranger, never happened :cry: I hope you succeed in your dream!!


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NLDer
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15 Oct 2007, 11:49 pm

Thanks for all your suggestions so far. : ) I really LOVE nature photography.. but haven't figured out how to earn a living at it.. I'm going to try and put some of my photos on some stock photography sites, I'm just not sure how to go about doing that... I'll have to research that.. Is anyone else here a nature photographer? I'll have to check the Music/Arts section more.. I Love music too and have been learning about how to record my own music , but again, I don't really know how to earn a living doing that...

I have a friend who is a geologist, but he works alot in an office and has to provide reports for supervisors that also work for the state.. he likes working outdoors much more than the office part though.. I worked as a newspaper delivery person at night for a long time, ultimately getting a route with the machines... I just don't have the back for that anymore plus it's hard on a vehicle.. I have an older truck that would break down and doesn't get the best gas mileage for delivery work anymore.. but that WAS good while it lasted : )

Thanks for your suggestions. Please keep them coming if you can think of anything else, I really appreciate it : )

LF



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16 Oct 2007, 1:32 am

I knew someone who cruised the powerline easements.
She spent all day just driving to locations, sometimes way out in the boonies, for a company that contracts with PG&E.
They need people who can walk the easements and record trees/foliage that is overgrowing the powerlines or poles/towers.
She had some forestry in college, enough to be able to tell which kind of tree it was.

She really liked the work, except that in some parts of Humboldt County the pot growers and meth lab sorts don't like people snooping around even if they are just checking trees.

She never had any real trouble from what she told me though, just a few confrontations until she convinced the person who she really was.
She has since moved up in the company and no longer runs the easements.

Just ask your power company who does this kind of work for them.


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