Blacktail Buck
This buck was grazing in a rancher’s field. H e must have liked what he was eating given how stuffed his cheeks are.
A Coyote Jumps Over the Moon.
Pardon the hyperbole, but if a cow can jump over the moon why not a coyote? This photo was taken last winter. I’ve never seen a coyote jump this high while mousing (or doing anything else). This is the coyote I’ve covered before, including the day before yesterday, with the injured right foreleg. It looks swollen at the wrist. Nevertheless, he landed front feet first.
Coyote Crosses A Ranch, Point Reyes National Seashore
This coyote has a swollen area under his left eye. This is the same coyote I’ve posted photos of before. He had an injury to his right foreleg which caused him to limp last winter, but that seems to have healed. As an old friend of mine is fond of saying: “Life is tough.”
Another Great Horned Owl Waits For Darkness
It’s mid-day and this adult great horned owl has hours to wait until darkness. In summer their hunting hours are much shorter than in winter, although they are busiest just after sunset and just before sunrise regardless of season. They prey on whatever is available. Hans Peeters, author of Field Guide to Owls of California and the West, states (page 191) that they have been known to even prey on house cats, bald eagles and canada geese. Bald eagles? Bald eagles weigh about 10 pounds. Great horned owls only weigh about three pounds. I wonder what they’d take if they weighed as much as an eagle?
Yearling Elk Releases Some Steam
It’s not only the calves that need to run to release some pent up energy. This yearling needs to do it as well. He has that crazy look in his eyes. I can remember having that same need to run fast for no reason other than to just do it. That was a long time ago.
Young Bull Elk Poses
This young bull poses beautifully in the afternoon light. I like to think he was practicing for when he will be a regal 7-pointer.
“Hey Mom, What About the Ones With Only Two Legs”?
“Can they run? Are they dangerous?” OK, deer don’t talk per se. Do you ever wonder how animal parents teach their offspring how to survive? The young learn a lot by just watching their mother and doing what she does. That makes it relatively easy to learn what to eat. Taste also informs them. But what about things like the first time they see a coyote or us? Is it pure instinct to go on alert? I think so. But I also know deer can vocalize. I’ve heard it. I know they also stamp their hooves when they are alerted to danger. I’ve seen that. I wonder what other ways a doe communicates with her offspring.
