Winter Wildlife

One would expect that during the winter, the plains of New Mexico would be desolate.  If we didn't see much wildlife in the summer when the pastures were green, why would we see much now.  Surprise . . .

On our way out to Las Vegas, we saw several large herds of antelope.  It is unusual to see antelope in groups much larger than ten or twelve, but we saw a few groups of at least 100 or more.  In talking with a rancher in the area, she, too, has been surprised by the large herds.  Don wonders if the blizzard from several weeks ago pushed the antelope into larger groups and they have just remained together.  We don't know . . . but it was fun.

When we left Las Vegas on Sunday, we first were greeted with gorgeous hoarfrost on the trees, highlighted by bright blue skies and sunshine.  Within an hour, however, we were driving through a very dense fog.  We didn't know what to expect for the day's drive.

Not far outside of Springer, we came upon our first surprise.  Don noticed a large flock of turkeys on both sides of the road.  We did not have time to count them, but there were at least 50 on the south side of the road. 

Further down the road, we saw a herd of deer.  I don't know that we have ever seen deer in the area, though we know they are around.  This herd had about 6 does and one very regal buck.

We then came upon several more large herds of antelope, and this time we managed to get a good picture of them.  They seem whiter than they are in the summer. 

We also saw some elk when we were hiking on Saturday, and throughout the weekend, the raptors were everywhere.  We primarily saw Swainson's and Ferruginous hawks, but there were probably many others that we could not identify.  Seeing all of the wildlife certainly made the trip home speed by.