Wildlife Watch X!!!

This is part of a group of seven that I counted in a neighbor's yard as I was driving down the mountain. Of course, I stopped the vehicle to get out my phone and take a photo.

It's been awhile since I've seen anything out of the ordinary around here. There are lots of squirrels and birds, even several sightings of bald eagles and other impressive specimens. There are always white-tail deer out and about, but lately there has been a group of 7 or 8 mule deer in the neighborhood! It had been a couple of years since either of us had seen them and even then they were not just loitering around like this.

These two are harder to see. I just happened to spot them out of the upstairs window when I was changing. It's not a great photo, but it is a pretty accurate representation of deer lying in the forest - the whole reason there are still deer is because they blend in.

I can't believe how close to our fence these two were, especially for laying down instead of browsing. They didn't let me get any closer than this before bounding off. I was kind of peeking around a tree and using the truck to steady my camera which I had zoomed in a bit. If you can't see them, the are just above the fence rail and on either side of that small fir tree, but back a ways.

Also, I spotted this massive beast while I went out to cut a few daffodils for a vase a few days ago.

Standard sized kitchen shears for scale.