Elk!

Driving home last night I slowed down upon seeing some deer grazing along the road. The deer are so bad on our road I’m getting to be as bad as those Aussies, refusing to drive at night out of fear of hitting things. We may bot have kangaroos here, but deer are a close second.

As I slowed down I noticed something different about these deer.

They were elk!

This was just over a mile from our house. Elk aren’t uncommon around here, just not right here. We get them on our pasture and wheat fields west of here about ten miles all the time. That’s a lot closer to the pine ridge, their usual habitat. Right here we never get them.

We did get a mountain lion a couple of years ago, also more common in the pine ridge. Maybe the extra numbers of them are pushing the elk farther afield?

I stopped in the middle of the road for a few minutes to look at them and grab a few pictures. Then they ran off, towards our home. As cool as it is to see them I hope they don’t actually come visit. Those things are hard on fences!