If You've got Water; They Will Come...

Yesterday I did my rounds of all the 5 gallon water buckets I have strategically located around the area of the house, and found a couple of them 'bone-dry' in just one day. Now I know that the weather has been a little warm, but that's a little unusual. Something large must have come by in the night and sucked up all the water.

The Javelina, though they usually come in packs of about 10-12 animals usually don't drink that much because they also get their moisture from eating Prickly Pear Cactuls. So I filled up all the buckets again and also some of the little 'bird-baths' we have out there. We'd keep an eye on those drink stations around dusk and see what comes by. Living at Hog Heaven is good for your neck muscles, because you spend a lot of time 'rubber-necking' out of all the windows trying to spot some of our visitors. Last night was no exception.

We'd just settled down to watch the Angels - Devil Rays baseball game when Joanne went into the kitchen for a glass of water. "Vern, Vern, Elk" was all she 'yelled' in a SOFT whisper. I muted the TV (which seemed superfluous because the Elk had obviously heard it through all the open windows, and went for my camera.

Joanne had noticed this huge 'cow' Elk stooping for a drink from the bucket I'd buried beside one of our mineral licks, but her attention had been focused so much that she'd missed the two Mule Deer standing less than twenty yards beyond, obviously waiting their turn at the 'lick' or water bucket. Unfortunately I wasn't quick enough to catch the Elk and Deer in a single framed photo, but did manage to capture these two shots.

The Mule Deer doe and young buck couldn't wait for that thirsty Elk, so they moved off to the right to the next water bucket. After quenching their thirst, they just browsed around on the lush green tufts of grass that had come alive with the first signs of spring. Life is Good at Hog Heaven.