We had a visit from a beautiful mule deer here at Little House in the Rockies this week. She was attracted by the bird feeder, and wasn’t at all skittish or shy.

She has a bit of a “who, me?” look … or perhaps an accusatory look because the feeder is hung too high for her to nibble from it.

I liked the way her shadow looked on the snow, so I zoomed out a little to get more of it along with the shadows from the winter-bare aspen trees. There’s something entrancing about shadows on snow.

I like that shot in black and white, too. The lighting looks like an old movie, where they shot the night scenes during the day, using a special filter to darken the film.

I think of this as her 2021 school picture / portrait.

I had to shoo this lovely mountain mule deer away, because she was scaring the birds and really shouldn’t be eating the birdseed. She didn’t want to go, but when I got really close and waved my arms, she did a graceful set of leaps over the horseshoe pit to watch me from a distance and perhaps plan another sneak attack. I was happy to catch her in midair.

Then, she “hid” behind an aspen tree. I really think she thought I couldn’t see her. The tree’s shadow looks like a harness.


On her way out, this wild beauty stopped in the front yard, with a last wistful look at me as if she was saying: “why do I have to go? I like it here!”
Thank you for stopping by, m’lovely!
© 2021, Glover Gardens
A small technical thing. That cinematic tool is called “Day for Night.” It actually lightens the film so that when the print is made it is reversed and is dark.