They are Watching You!

Last week I was hiking in Cave Creek Regional Park, you know the one, it's in your backyard, Carefree Hwy and 32nd St.  Anyway, I was out hiking and I spotted some Mule Deer, three or four does, it was hard to say for sure as they bounded through the brush in a hurry to avoid me.  As I stood watching them disappear into the desert, I noticed something.  More accurately, I felt something.  You know the feeling you get when you are being watched by a stranger.  My spidey senses were tingling.  Slowly I began a 360 degree scan to see who might be giving me the once over.  Was it a Mountain Lion?  A Coyote?  Just another hiker, perhaps?  I heard the noise of something stirring in the scrub. I readied my camera, just in case it was something more than a LBB (little brown bird).  Then, I saw him, up there on the ridge line, maybe 100 feet away.  He was watching to make sure his harem was safe.  Once the buck was sure that I had seen him, he slowly started walking, stopping every 20 feet, or so, to make sure I was following him and not his harem.  He was leading me in the opposite direction.  I watched him for a few minutes and managed to get this shot before he decided I was not a threat to him or his girls.  Then he simply walked into the brush and vanished!  Right there, somewhere in front of me, he was ....... gone!

I find it amazing that an animal that large can simply walk into a handful of scrub and, without the use of mirrors or pixie dust, simply vanish before me.  It makes me wonder what else I'm missing.  What else am I failing to see?  Who or what else is out there, watching me?  That is for me to discover.  That is the game I play every time I venture out into the wilderness.  It is exciting and even a bit scary at times.  What makes it even more exciting is noticing them before they notice me.  Man, the hunter.  They are in luck, since I only shoot with a camera.  What will I shoot on my next adventure?  I don't know.  Maybe a sunrise, a rainbow, a butterfly.  Maybe a Tarantula or a snake.  Maybe ......?  That is part of the adventure, afterall.  The unknown.  It is not to be feared.  It is to be explored!  Go on, I dare you!  Get out there and have an adventure of your own.  Take water, a camera, and a partner.  What will you find?  One thing for sure. Life!

Mark - Naturally!