49.5

The deer in Yosemite Valley are among the tamest I've ever come across. This young one was among four that I watched for a couple of hours. Two female adults and two juveniles.

After taking this photo, I moved up the valley a little and set the camera up on a tripod to shoot Half Dome. While waiting for the light to improve I heard a commotion behind me. I turned to look and saw the two juvenile deer charging straight for me! Just at the last moment and only a few feet away, they came to a halt, stared at me for a second, then took off in another direction. I'm not sure if I was suppose to chase them (wouldn't that look funny) or if they were just being daring to see how close they could get to the human in their valley. Either way it was obviously a game they were playing. Both the moms stood by watching. I think I saw one of them roll her eyes...

So that's my Yosemite Valley deer story. Hope you like the photo!