Walking through one section of San Diego Wild Animal Park I was somewhat surprised to see a small cottontail snuffling through the undergrowth (although it did explain what we saw a redtail drop on earlier in the day). Whilst my fiancee was checking him out I was absolutely stunned to see a small Accipter hawk sat on the floor a few feet away. I was just about to take a photo when my fiancee pointed out a buck mule deer behind it. Suffice it to say the target rich environment resulted in options paralysis and both got away unpixelated. We did see this muley later in the day though:
She really shows why mule deer got their name with those huge ears.
3 comments:
Loved your post and the picture. 'Options paralysis' is a nice term to describe what photographers and birders often face in the field.
Question: Are mule deer found in California? I spent some time there once and I'd often see a lot of deer. Most of them were white-tailed (I think?) but on one occasion, I thought I saw a mule deer in Yosemite.
Thanks Beej - apparently there are around a million mule deer in California, I would guess the mix with WTD depends upon habitat. We saw mulies in both the Sagebrush around San Diego but also up in Sequoia national park (of which more later).
I just realised my post text wasn't very clear - these deer aren't inmates at the Wild Animal Park - they are wild california natives that have found their way into the landscaped non-enclosed areas.
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