Tuesday, November 3, 2009

Uneasy (Part 2)

(Part two of my Saturday morning wildlife encouter -- part one can be found here.)

Uneasy

As I was following the mother and youngster through my lens, their ears went up and they went onto high alert.

On the alert

It was cute how the youngster acted just like the mother -- probably a good sign for its long-term outlook. (As a side note, when they are being very attentive like this, its quite easy to see why they are called mule deer. The ears look almost too big for this little one!)

Ears up

The little one was maybe 10 yards away from Mom, and made a hasty retreat to her side.

Trotting to mom

With their fur puffed out, they made some aggressive stances while staring off into the distance (not at me).

Strength together

I was enjoying their look, and it took a few minutes to dawn on me that I should probably turn around to see what was causing their concern. To my surprise the coyote I spied earlier was cruising through the parking lot area. He hung out between myself and my car while trying to decide what to do, which made the decision easier for me to just stay put and see what was going to unfold.

Uneasy coyote

It seemed like the coyote wanted to get to the field on the other side of the road (perhaps where he just came from), but the mother deer had moved into the way. So instead, the coyote crossed the parking lot a few times while trying to decide what to do. Eventually, the mother gave a short charge and the coyote took off and hid behind the fence before wandering off up the hillside.

Safely behind the fence

The story continues tomorrow with Part 3...

1 comment:

  1. Nice story telling .... great photos but the most wonderful part is how they make the story immediate allow us to share it.

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