Oh Deer......

On my various hikes with the dogs, we come across all sorts of wildlife.  Coyotes, foxes, birds, rabbits, deer and elk.  Due to Heffner's and particularly Bess' very high prey drive, trying to capture a picture or video of any of the game was generally not going to happen.  As H and B got older, I got a little better at spotting deer and elk before they did.  Though often I was clued in by Bess' higher intensity sniffing.  So really, I was cheating.

Miley has had very limited exposure to wild game beyond birds and the occasional squirrel.  Or at least game that she has actually witnessed.  She's been on the trail when Heffner has done a little chasing of deer, but for the most part, she hasn't really seen any.  Until this past Sunday!  While we were out hiking we came across not one, but TWO deer!  I'm used to deer immediately running away from the dogs and I, not casually walking towards us!  Then I thought about it.  Bess' prey drive was INCREDIBLY high.  Wild game and she was on it!  If it ran speedily away from her, she was on it.  Comparatively, Heffner had a more casual prey drive.  He loved chasing the game, but didn't really know what to do with it when he got up to it if it was small game.  And didn't feel like putting in the additional effort of chasing larger game through under brush for very long.  Without another dog around to emulate, her first real encounter with deer was confusing.  And I wasn't helping any because I was totally caught off guard by deer that weren't immediately dashing off.  At any rate, Miley's confusion, my bewilderment and the deers' apparent lack of concern about either of us gave me the time to capture a couple of quick clips!

Kind of neat.  It did remind me of running across a couple of elk last year with just Heffner.  It was after Bess had passed and before bringing Miley home.  I saw the two elk to the side of the trail and Heffner hadn't caught on to them just yet.  I had just enough time to whip my phone out and catch a couple of pics.

I was pretty proud of myself for actually catching that!

I hope everyone is having a decent Monday.  If you need a little pick me up, here's Miley distributing some of her opinions. ;)