Dear Deer

    All the years I've been out here I've always had various deer that hang around, at various times of the year. All the clover and grass I've planted and maintain around here probably has something to do with it.

I keep a salt lick block across the lawn on a rock under the cedar.

 Sheltered from the rain for the most part, a new salt lick will last over a year out there. 

Note the blue stained rock from probably 15 of them over the years.

During the lush Spring season they don't seem to mind sharing their pasture with the bear. 

I took this off the deck one June, note the smoke from the trees down at the far end, down in the hot spring campsite. If you look close, there are two people standing down there, probably taking a picture of a bear and a deer standing in front of a cabin.

Smart deer.

There was this extra smart deer one Summer a few years back, a doe of course. 

It would wander in during the heat of the day and stand there in the arc of my lawn sprinkler getting pelted by water every time it came around. It would give a big shake and wait patiently for it to come around again.

 

The next year, she brought her young one in and showed it where to find rain on a hot day.

This is a trio that stayed with me for a week once.

 I called them Larry, Moe, and Curly.

They would come up to the cabin, intrigued by my cats at the time, Skook and Chuk, under the porch steps in this case, who seemed every bit as interested in them.

                               Hey deers!

A few years back some elk had been reintroduced several mountain ranges away.
I know that at least one has made his way down here and beyond to the south.