Al Larson Photography

Those ears are what gave mule deer their name. It’s no wonder we don’t see these critters more often. They hear us coming and seek a place of concealment. Look closely and you can see the spots on this fawn.

Historical remnants of the past dot the landscape in Owyhee county. When gold was discovered in this area in the 1860s miners and prospectors rushed into the area. Nearby Silver City, in its heyday was one of the largest population centers in the Pacific northwest. Towns sprang up near the mines. There was Silver City, Fairview, Ruby City, Dewey, DeLamar, and Wagontown. With the exception of Silver City these towns have all but faded away. A person may still visit the old cemeterys which are cared for by the local historical society. One may find pieces of old machinery discarded in the past. There are few if any old buildings left. The cabin in this photo still stands near the old town site of DeLamar.

My, how the time flies! It seems like only yesterday that this embarassing situation occured. It was May 17, 2005 that I was in the Owyhee mountains checking bluebird boxes. The weather was inclement and the ground was thoroughly saturated. I had worked my way onto a side road where there were slick spots and mud puddles. I was retracing my way back along a road I had just gone over when the soft earth caused me to slow down and the pickup spun out. I worked with a shovel and a jack several hours but I remained stuck. Darkness fell and I spent the night in the cramped quarters of the pickup cab. Rain fell during the night and I realized there was no hope of my driving to the main road. I set out afoot in the rain for the main road. I thought I would more likely find help there in case somebody were to come looking for me. It was a three and a half mile hike through mud and fording creeks. Sure enough, I no sooner reached the main road when I was met by a search party from the Owyhee county Sheriff’s office. I got transportation back to civilization. Of course there was no one there to photograph my ordeal. I described the situation to Hilda and she came up with this sketch of me crossing Bridge Creek

Checking my “bluebird trails” on a regular basis gets me out in the country often. It seems that there is always something of interest to view if you keep your eyes open. A glance out of the car window produced this spectacular view. Bitterbrush and sagebrush amid mounds of ancient lava near the village of Prairie proved to be a perfect setting for this male mule deer. The rack of velvet-covered antlers may still grow a little since this photo was taken on July 3rd. After posing a short while he scampered away a short distance and hid behind a small pine tree.  There are cabins and ranch buildings throughout the area so the wild animals are used to seeing humans. This guy didn’t seem to be too concerned about our presence until he realized this photographer was lingering too long.

I just couldn’t resist taking another photo of Idaho’s state bird. This one seemed to favor this perch as it was fairly close to me yet far enough away to feel safe. He seemed very concerned about my being by the nestbox.

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