Mule Deer, Koty Bear & Doe Eyes

Well, goody goody gum drops! We are finally starting to have a respite from the snow and a bit of a thaw. This will be my ninth winter up on this mountain and this is the harshest fall since I moved here. My father used to say that when winter started early the overall winter kinda petered out. We'll see how well that works.

Koty Bear loves winter the more snow and cold the better. He literally whines to be let out when we go subzero. Below is a photo of him dashing through the snow.

Koty Bear Loping Through The Snow

For winter sports Koty and the mule deer like to play a bluff-charge game. Koty, being true to his nature is unreliable off lead so he must always be either on a leash or in an enclosure. He has a tether that allows him to go in and out of the house, go out on the lawn to take care of business and lounge on the deck. When the mule deer return for the winter they soon take up where they left off. The deer know just how close they can get to Koty without him being able to reach them. The deer will approach to just within Koty's reach and dare him to come after them. Koty will try and fake them out by hanging back hoping to draw them into his range. It's really quite the cat and mouse game and a lot of fun to watch.

Koty Bear And Mule Deer Playmates

I have been spending a lot of time with my deer. They are a wonderful diversion. I can sit out in the snow and watch them by the hour. And, of course, I cannot resist taking a few photos. I just love the mule deer. They are so gentle and serene, not at all like the whitetail. They are a life lesson for me. They also have very cute butts.

Mule Deer Behind

You will notice the black tip on her tail. Although, everyone around here calls them mule deer or mulies they are also referred to as blacktail deer.

There is one old doe that has been coming to keep me company for several years now. I call her "Doe Eyes". This doe has the most beautiful eyes I have ever seen on a mulie or any dear. For the most part mulie eyes are solid brown and although big and beautiful there is not a lot of texture to them. But, Doe Eyes is in a league of her own.

Doe Eyes

Her eyes are very large and instead of being a solid brown they are more like a horse's eyes that have variation and texture. They are just stunning.

Doe Eyes

There is something elses very unusual about her eyes. They are set quite a bit more forward than is common. I don't know if you know or not but you can tell if an animal is a predator or a prey animal by the set of the eyes. Predators like mountain lions, and wolves have eyes set up front whilst prey animals like deer and elk have eyes set on the sides given them greater peripheral vision. Also note where your own eyes are located.

I'm hoping before this winter is done that I can get a closeup up just of her eye so that you can see how truly beautiful they are.

©Kinsey Barnard Photography

Mountain Lion Encounter-Grave Creek Montana

Once a week I take a hike with a dear friend of mine. Since I spend so much time not in the company of humans it is a very important day for me lest I lose all my social skills. This day we decided to drive up Grave Creek Road which takes one into the Ten Lakes Scenic Area. We were curious to see how far we could get before running into the snow line.

Grave Creek 4-22-10

We parked the car about ten miles in and walked as far as Clarence Creek before we hit snow. Clearly it will still be awhile before we can get to the lakes. We turned around and marched back down the mountain. When we got back to the car I said "Let's walk down a little further.", which we did. Shortly after passing the car Koty started pulling on his harness and acting like a crazy man. He'd been a whiny brat all day so I didn't really think that much of it.

We walked maybe three quarters of a mile before heading back up the mountain. Normally, when I'm in the woods, I am alone and very attuned to my surroundings. I often spot wildlife before Koty. But, when I'm with my friend I end up chattering like a magpie and paying absolutely no attention to what's going on around me.

As we were walking back to the car I was expounding on who the heck knows what, I have a theory about most everything. Suddenly my friend says "What's that?" I look up the road, maybe a seventy yards away, and I see a figure I can't quite make out standing not twenty feet behind the car. At first I thought it was a wolf. But then the coat was so dark I thought it might be a bear cub. I quickly snapped off a couple of shots.  Even looking through my 300mm lens I still couldn't quite make out what it was.  The animal just stood there looking at us until I started to move toward it. Then it scampered back down the bank toward the creek. It wasn't until we were back in the car out of the glare that we could clearly see what it  really was. Below is what we saw looking right at us.

Mountain Lion In Full winter Coat 04-22-10

No wonder Koty was having such a fit. He could smell this cat and knew it was quite near. Normally, I would have been on red alert based on Koty's beahvior alone but as I said this was my attention MIA day.

The rest of the day was anti-climactic but I still have a couple of nice photos I'll share. When we got back to the valley floor we went over to the campground. The below photo was taken from the bridge.

Over at the campground we puttered around in the rocks and boulders along the creek. I just love this stuff. The designs are to die for.


Intergalactic by Kinsey Barnard-----Loaded to Gallery

Here's another on I call "Moonstruck" because it looks to me like craters in the moon.



Moonstruck by Kinsey Barnard-------Loaded to Gallery

Well, this certainly wasn't a day I will soon forget. These are the days that I live for. These are the days when I know I am truly alive. These are the days that I bow down and give thanks for the inestimable privilege to live in this magical place!

©Kinsey Barnard Photograpy


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