Evening drive San Francisco Peaks

Hubby and I took a late afternoon/early evening drive last night out west of the San Francisco peaks. He, being from Pennsylvania, likes to try to spot the deer as they come out of the forests to graze. I call him "Old Eagle Eye". He can usually spot things before I do. But, not last night! Hee hee! I spotted the first deer (and I was driving!). She was off the road in the woods, right next to the road. So, we continued onward. We found a road that went off and took it, but didn't see any wildlife. So, we drove some more and came to a burnt-out area from several years prior. While there were no ponderosa trees there, there was a lot of grass and small plants...excellent habitat for coyotes. And, soon enough, I heard one, right by the road. We found a dirt road that went back into the hills and sure enough, he crossed the road right after we turned. But, another 2 came bounding back! So, we drove down the road and soon came upon a whole herd of elk! They took one look at us and bounced away! On our way back, I asked hubby, "WHAT is THAT in the road?" I thought it was a cat! Hubby...hehe...didn't even see it! Turns out, it was a kit fox! It went running for its life when it saw us coming! So, we joined the main road again and hubby yelled, "STOP!" Turns out, a whole herd of elk was in the trees by the road. It was too dark to get photos of them, so we just stopped and watched them.

Just as a reminder to everyone...I always drive slowly through forests. You never know what could come bounding out and hubby is a fanatic about this. Having just read Lisa's post on her blog, I always get nervous when people drive 80 mph through forests. I just don't know how they do it...

Enjoy the photos and have a wonderful day.