I recently wrote that 100+ degree days were done and gone here in Phoenix, at least for 2008. Well, I’m not afraid to admit it, but I was very wrong. We went less than a week, before Phoenix consistently hit 102-103 for several days in a row. Today the high was allegedly 99, with highs predicted to be in the middle 80′s next week. Hopefully the end really has now arrived.
Ok with my admission out of the way, I thought these photos would be interesting.
I took these this morning on the way in to the office. My home backs up to the McDowell Mountains in North Scottsdale, which is where the McDowell Sonoran Preserve is. The Preserve sits adjacent to McDowell Mountain Regional Park, which is very, very close to Tonto National Forest. As such, deer like these have a nearly unobstructed route from the forest to my back yard.
The deer seem to really like certain plantings, and perhaps the negative edge swimming pools in the community.
In total, I saw 5 deer. The first ran across the street right in front of my car, so I grabbed my camera (always at the ready) and hopped out to try to snap his picture. That’s when I noticed 4 others that wanted to cross the street, but were perhaps frightened by me or the car. Eventually the others scampered across, and I captured 2 of them mid-scamper. The smallest was particularly spry, appearing to bound 4 feet in the air, with each hop forward.
At this point (above), they had all crossed the road, and were looking down the hill at me, keeping me in check. For some reason, I find photos of deer with cactus in the frame appealing, and really, it’s this picture that caused me to write this post. I only wish there were a stag, hidden behind the stag horn cholla cactus in the foreground, like this one (must click to see this nugget…clicky, click, click).
With the arrival of the deer, I now pronounce the arrival of the fall season in Phoenix. I’m looking forward to the highs in the 80′s next week.
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