A mangy moose!

A mangy moose!  And a lot of other wildlife – that's what Debbie and I saw on our outing to Blacksmith Fork Canyon last night.  I took a couple less-than-superb photos with my iPhone:

We did not expect to see a moose on the canyon bottom in the springtime.  Our own experience, plus the wisdom of many locals, tell us that the moose decamp to higher altitudes when the winter is over.  Not this one!  She had big patches of fur missing, with her black skin showing through.  From reading, this is most likely the result of a “winter tick” infestation, although it actually could be mange.  Other than the skin condition, she looked healthy enough, and certainly well-fed.

In addition to the moose, we also saw about six bazillion deer – including one herd of eight who tried to commit suicide by running in front of our car.  We stopped in time, and in the process learned just how fast a Tesla Model X can stop: really fast!  We saw lots of birds: several separate viewings of American dippers, a northern harrier, a single female turkey (weird, that, as they're basically always in a flock), a male Bullock's oriole in full mating plumage, swarms of swallows (three different species), a male Lazuli bunting, and several banded kingfishers.  The most interesting sighting was a bird we think is one of several sandpiper species.  We didn't have our Sibley's with us, and by the time we got home our memories were fuzzy.

There were many of the shrub at right in bloom along the road.  I don't know what it is, but they grow up to about 15' in height.  The flowers have a mild, earthy, and very pleasant smell – not sweet at all.  There were hundred of bees on this small specimen I photographed – must be a good source of nectar...

The stream at left is a fork from Blacksmith Fork River, coming from the south.  It's running a little bit higher than usual, making all the rapids and waterfalls noisy and beautiful...

It was a great evening's outing!