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Thursday, June 16, 2011

After sunset and moonrise - wildlife drama in the darkness

Yesterday evening, the Duo and I were on the trails hiking.
The world was serene.
The sun began to sink to the horizon, and K glowed in its rays.
A cloud bank advancing over our world turned deep orange.
It transformed the meadow's colors.
Then, we spotted the moon rising, on the other side of the sky from the cloud bank.
Later that night, a wildlife camera captured video of a doe and the first fawns of the season. The video is at the bottom of the post, and it shows the tiny and delicate fawns beautifully.

About two hours after the fawns passed that camera, a mountain lion started advancing toward their locale. My camera captured him heading that way.
Then, it captured him again still homing in on their position.
I don't know the outcome. I do know that I saw a doe and one fawn this morning in the same locale as the camera during my mountain bike ride. I could have easily missed seeing a second fawn - so I don't place much weight on the fact that I saw only one fawn.

I also saw a black bear, a young and small one, nearby. That bear fled from me so fast that all that I saw was the soles of his hind paws and his glossy black fur. I thought that he might start somersaulting through the green grass as he rumbled and tumbled away from me. I do know that black bears prey on fawns. That mother deer and her offspring have dangerous times ahead of them.

You can watch the video at Youtube or here.

I am still visiting my friend's house for internet access so I apologize that I haven't been visiting or commenting on your blogs. I hope that we can solve our internet problems soon!

18 comments:

  1. Wow. Nice series of pictures....

    I wish I had cougars 'round here to camera trap!

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  2. You two are liking the pawparrazzi!! Yikes that mountain lion is big
    Benny & Lily

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  3. Wow! I am just stunned by your landscape shots tonight! Some of those should be hanging in an art gallery somewhere.

    Those fawns are so tiny! We saw so many small deer herds tonight when we drove out past the lake that I lost track of how many. I didn't see any tiny fawns, though! Here's hoping those little guys stay hidden from all those predators.

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  4. I don't WANT to know the outcome!! Those fawns are so TINY! They look very new. I sure hope they make it. But I guess one can't take sides in that world... Love that late-afternoon shot with the white clouds. Can I just come for the day???

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  5. More beautiful photos!!! Reading your blog every evening is like watching a great movie with gorgeous pictures in it!! Thanks!!! Lots of love, Debbie & Holly

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  6. 'Course, I'd probly need to bring oxygen!!

    PS: we're grateful to your friend for letting you use her internet!!

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  7. Glad to see R's toe continues to improve. Both dogs look wonderful. With K's exercise routine and excellent home cooked diet, there's every reason to hope she'll be able to keep up with you for years and years due to her extraordinary conditioning.

    You mentioned some flooding problems in the house a while ago. Is there any chance K is smelling something in the house that you can't smell that bothers her? Although it seems logical that R would also notice any odd smells. Is it just areas where she feels especially closed in? Mama had a Dane once who was afraid of ceiling fans for reasons mama never could phantom.

    Hope your internet situation improves. There was a terrible problem recently with people being unable to leave comments on blogspot.com blogs. Sounds like some people are still having problems. We turned off the 'stay signed in' box on our Google Account and we clear everything out of our browser every time we use the computer. After the first few days of irritation, we've been able to comment again.

    Jed & Abby

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  8. I have heard that does are very clever about keeping their babies safe from harm. Like finding a special place for them to stay, and Doe taking off running to fool the predator! Lets wish Mrs. Doe lots of luck in raising her family!

    Cheers,
    Stella, Jo and Zkhat

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  9. I know it is the cycle of life, but I still always cheer for the underdog! Strength, cleverness, and swiftness deer family!

    The photos of your skies are magnificent. Are you getting any of the AZ fire's smoke/ash to heighten the colors of sunset?

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  10. I feel the serence calmness that you showed us,,,, it feels good for that feeling to settle into my heart.
    The moon was so gorgeous,,, we have clouds so its not showing its face to us. Thankyou for sharing yours.
    Oh my gosh,,, i hope the babys are both okay,,,, its better to not know.
    Momma deer usually hide their babies in my yard,, in my flowers,,
    did I tell you that before?
    But this year,,, I have not seen any babies....
    Such tiny ones yours are
    love
    tweedles

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  11. I sure hope momma and her babies are ok. They were so adorable!

    I just love the video's! It's so wonderful to see the wildlife in that way!

    Holly & Khady

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  12. The Duo shot is a picture of happiness itself.

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  13. Beautiful pictures! (I feel like that is all I type when I visit your blog)
    but I am usually in awe of your captures:)

    Looks like the wildlife camera has been busy!

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  14. It's nature, but, I don't want to know what happened with the deer and the cougar. Your pictures are, as always, wonderful and uplifting.

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  15. I'm not sure I'd want to see the pictures of the outcome! I love the first picture.

    Sam

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  16. Great video of the little fawns. And the mountains are spectacular.

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  17. I hope your internet woes are corrected soon, too, but I'm so glad you have a friend who lets you post these treasures. I especially love the portrait of the Duo standing at attention. What a GREAT capture!

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  18. Great photos! I really love the colors in the sky, and the beautiful clouds. The wildlife photos and video were so interesting. I hope the doe and fawns are ok.

    By the way, Zoe said she would be happy to teach K and R some of her waterskiing techniques. ;)

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