Lac qui Parle wildlife...

Yesterday afternoon, Jeff & I took a drive to Lac qui Parle state park and the surrounding area in western MN to look for wildlife. This is one of our favorite areas to look for wildlife as well as fall camping and we have never gone to this area without seeing at least one deer. Even the park's sign reflects the deer.Because of the extreme winter we have been having and the deep snow, the Dept. of Natural Resources has started feeding the deer drawing many more to the area. Jeff estimates that we saw 300-400 deer as we drove around the area. Deer are everywhere and the deep tracks through the snow are as well. We noticed many traveling on the frozen river where it must be easier to walk including these...
and these.
One of the areas stocked with hay and corn was filled with more deer than I have ever seen in one place before. I fired off many photos and not all of them are good quality because of the shadows in the late afternoon sun but this series is my favorite. On the following photo, do you see the 3 deer in the foreground? Pay attention to the second & third, a doe & her fawn. We stopped to take a photo in a clearing in the trees and drew lots of attention.
The doe starts to get skittish and looks around nervously, at this point she must be telling the fawn they need to flee...
the little guy isn't fast enough to move so she jumps right over him...
it must be easier to leapfrog over him than to get off the path in the deep snow!

Once she gets to the clearing with the food she checks back to see if we are still watching...
and eventually decides we are not a threat and goes back to the hay pile for a snack.
I have many more photos to share tomorrow including some closer shots of the deer...
the geese...
and the eagles we saw.
If you live in the area and decide to take a drive over - be careful driving. Deer are crossing the roads everywhere!
It was -9F in the afternoon and as soon as the sun started setting it quickly started dropping. With the deep snow and cold, we are thankful these beautiful animals are being supplement fed this winter.
I know with Valentine's day approaching many are thinking of romantic dates...for me and my guy, this one was one of the best. He with his binoculars and me with my camera enjoying something we both love even getting blessed with a great sunset :)