Mule Deer Buck (Odocoileus hemionus) on the Run
Late March, Colorado.
I was already using my camera with a macro lens. I looked up first to see two bucks suddenly appear at a ridge. They had recently shed their antlers and looked quite different from just a few days prior. They quickly moved down a path and I had no time to change my lens. So I just shot this photo of one of the two bucks with my macro lens!
Mule deer are found in North America, mostly west of the Missouri River and especially in the Rocky Mountain region. They are called mule deer because of the size and shape of their big ears. They have black-tipped tails and the bucks' antlers are bifurcated (vs. coming off one trunk as with white-tailed deer).
They are fascinating to watch run because they do so with all four feet coming down and rising up together, in pogo-stick fashion. Even the fawns run in this way. This form of running is also called stotting and pronking. This style allows them to move quickly and rise high over browse plants and shrubs. Impressive!
Mule Deer Buck (Odocoileus hemionus) on the Run
Late March, Colorado.
I was already using my camera with a macro lens. I looked up first to see two bucks suddenly appear at a ridge. They had recently shed their antlers and looked quite different from just a few days prior. They quickly moved down a path and I had no time to change my lens. So I just shot this photo of one of the two bucks with my macro lens!
Mule deer are found in North America, mostly west of the Missouri River and especially in the Rocky Mountain region. They are called mule deer because of the size and shape of their big ears. They have black-tipped tails and the bucks' antlers are bifurcated (vs. coming off one trunk as with white-tailed deer).
They are fascinating to watch run because they do so with all four feet coming down and rising up together, in pogo-stick fashion. Even the fawns run in this way. This form of running is also called stotting and pronking. This style allows them to move quickly and rise high over browse plants and shrubs. Impressive!