Roadside nursery

Shadow Mountain Drive is a beautiful (in the summer) and dangerous (in winter) drive and last Sunday morning it was a page out of the Wild Kingdom.

There’s a herd of elk that settle in the meadow near the Tall Trees and the herd shares babysitting responsibilities. On that morning, the herd had their babies by the roadside. They’d been feasting in the grass and rushes that line the small stream the snakes along the road.

When I drove by I slowed down to grab a picture and the babies moved off into the trees away from the road. One mama elk had crossed the road and was trying to marshal her offspring across the road and back to the nursery school. The youngin’ glanced disdainfully in my direction as they crossed the road.

It’s mid-July and the signs of late summer are inching their way into the air and soon the herds will move down the hill in huge numbers. This area is no place for ungulates. Snow hides food. No food, no life.