A Mule’s Ears
I had spent all day hiking around Smith Rock State Park in central Oregon. Between the heat and the elevation changes, I was feeling pretty beat as I walked around the River Trail for the second time. As the sun got low in the sky, I came across this gentle doe grazing on the hillside and the sight provided a little lift to my tired legs, at least until I got to the steep hike up to the top of the rock wall and my calves started remembering the first hike up.
Mule deer can be seen pretty easily in the early and late hours at the park, they tend to stay down by the Crooked River between the rock walls. A characteristic mule deer share with mules themselves are their large, twitchy ears. The ears can be moved independently as seen here.