The Last on Those Lines (Maybe)

The USGS responded to my inquiry about the strange lines or terracing on some of the hills around Dave’s Home. When the e-mail popped up in my inbox I dropped everything to read it. Apparently my question had been routed to a local office. I read the end first to see who it was from. The closing sounded impressive enough:

       Cartographer

       Western Region GIO

       NSN-SILS
       US Geological Survey
       Menlo Park, California

Then I read the body. “Believe it or not they are most likely caused by cows. Animals tend to want to walk at the same elevation all the time. Humans tend to like to go up and down.”