| |
|
|
I inadvertantly outflanked these deer, cutting off their escape
route to the mountains, making them appear trapped between
myself and the city. This is the view of Mother Winter as she
gazes down upon these mule deer. Every year they are squeezed
between civilization and her advancing snows. Before man arrived
this valley was the winter feeding ground for deer, elk,
and many other species, as the average snowpack at the nearby
ski resorts reaches over 10 feet, burying all the grasses and
small shrubs and forcing most deer out of the higher elevations.
When man first arrived he was content to fill the valley with
his houses, then more recently his houses began crawling up onto
the mountainsides as well. The deeper the snow gets the more
deer are forced down into people's yards to forage for food.
Occasionally the Division of Wildlife Services is called in to
tranquilize a moose or a cougar, the former so big and difficult
to move that they are usually airlifted by helicoptor to other
locations. The "Big Squeeze" as I have called it, is not
a local problem, but a serious threat for all the
wildlife on our planet. Photo taken above Salt Lake City,
Utah, on Dec. 1, 1991. Film: Kodachrome 64. |
|
|
|
