Yosemite's Winter Animals

The snow pack and cold winds drive the animals out of the highlands and into Yosemite's canyon. That means we may have a better chance of seeing something cool.  There are always benefits to visiting during the off-season.

How about a raccoon moseying around the Visitor's Center totally ignoring all humans.  He's like Daniel Boone's coon skin cap on four legs.




  What else did we see.  How about a bobcat!

Trust me, this was at maximum zoom!  He was in the middle of this meadow.

Anything else wandering around the canyon?  Deer, of course. On our second day in Yosemite we got high enough to reach the snowfall - in fact, we had to put snow chains on.

But the deer were in no hurry. Granpa was taking photos through the rear window, the side mirrors, open windows ...

Not in a hurry, slowly easing down the roadside, past our windows, across the road, and then straight up the side of the rock wall like they were a bunch of goats!

Bucks don't start to grow antlers until their fifth year.  The antler growing cycle can last up to ten months.  (When that time frame starts and ends depends on whether the critter is a Yankee or a Southerner.) It usually starts in March or April.  By June or July growth really takes off - sometimes, if the feed and genetics are great, antlers can grow as much as 1/2" a day!  The antlers are grown to impress the ladies and to use as a weapon during the rut (mating season).  After the rut, bucks are all worn out from stress and not eating right - so the antlers fall off. That would be in January or February (give or take a tad).   Unfortunately, hunters aren't hunting for venison (deer meat) anymore. Today's hunters want just the antlers - and the more perfect the rack the better.  So genetics are no longer protected.  The hunters should be culling the deer with weird looking or puny looking antlers, leaving the most perfect specimens to reproduce and make even more perfect racks. With that in mind, I think "hunting" with a camera like Granpa does is a pretty good way to hunt.  The guy in this photo?  I think I'd leave him alive for years to come - and every year find a new buck growing to be even better than his daddy!

Right around the corner from these deer we find wild turkey.

But, here's my favorite animal...