Saturday, June 19, 2010

Goats and Groundhogs

Eight days ago I was lucky enough to get into good position to watch a mountain goat nanny with a new kid feeding in the trees below me on a steep slope. Although I was only about 30 m from the goats they had no idea I was there. Unfortunately the dense vegetation didn't make for great photography opportunities, but I did get this "window in a wall of green" shot of the kid.

While I was waiting I heard a sound to my left. The noisemaker turned out to be a marmot (also known as groundhog or woodchuck). Marmots are pretty uncommon sights in our area, especially in forest habitats. This marmot cautiously moved to the entrance to it's den, where I took the second photo that shows both the marmot and the goats in the same frame. You never know what you will see when you stand quietly in the forest.

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