24 August 2006

Beware the Mutant Three-toed deer!

I did make it up to Gibson Jack yesterday. Someone on the way down said she saw deer and a moose, but I only saw their tracks. And some of the deer tracks were three-toed!!! Clearly there's a mutant deer up there whose foot mutates back and forth between two and three toes! (Or, hmmm, maybe just occasionally the deer stepped in an existing track in such a way that it looked like it had three toes, but, nahhh.)

Still, I did put the Tibetan prayerflag up along the ridgeline:
I have no idea how long it might last. The wind will likely keep it from being covered in snow, but also might blow it to shreds before too long. Still, I was pleased to see it up there. It's on a ridgeline on the motorized side, but it's one that doesn't seem to get a lot of ATV traffic. Most of them seem to take a lower road through the forest. I sure wouldn't want to drive any vehicle along parts of that ridgeline.

Despite the lack of large mammals, I did see some quite interesting wildlife, as well as some foliage already showing gorgeous fall colors. In order of encounter: a caterpillar, a sleepy bumblebee, a vulture, a spider, and some odd beetles. The spider is the cute one. There were also lots of other less easily identified birds, as well as a chipmunk and plenty of butterflies. I'm only posting pictures of the more unusual encounters.









2 comments:

Becky said...

First, you should have taken a photog of the tracks. Second, you should contact Coast to Coast AM. They eat that sorta stuff right up. : )

Qalmlea said...

LOL. I thought about getting a picture, but didn't. The spider was much more interesting. ;^)