I was at about 10,000 feet in the Sandias last week when, out of the corner of my eye, I caught a glimpse of some odd-looking tree branches in the middle of my favorite meadow. I turned to get a better look and realized the branches were actually a mule deer with beautiful velvety antlers.
Just a few moments later, he was joined by a second buck with smaller, but equally velvety, antlers. At the time, I didn’t realize there was a third deer with them. You can just barely see his little ears sticking up above the tall grass in the lower left.
According to the time stamps on my photos, these guys allowed me to photograph them for a full five minutes. That might not sound like much, but it’s an amazingly long time when you’re hanging with wild animals, especially when they’re fully aware that you’re there.
I took photos of each deer as it ambled across the meadow to the relative safety of the forest. The largest buck led the way.
The medium-sized deer followed in his footsteps, and the baby was so busy eating that he didn’t fully realize they’d left him alone with me for a few moments. He had to cross the meadow on his own. I think he looked a bit concerned.
Of course I thanked each of them as they left.
I originally considered including the photo above as an example of what most of my wildlife photos look like. In the end, however, I’m sharing it for an entirely different reason, which is the direction of their ears. I’ve never realized that mule deer can turn their ears a full 180 degrees. They’d turned their backs to me but were still keeping an eye ear on me.
Amazing ears!!
Wonderful! Thank you!