Unlike over the weekend, I was alone in the Valley this morning.

It was mostly sunny and calm, with only little breezes from time to time. Every time I took a step down the trail towards the Bradford house, numerous grasshoppers leapt out of my way, landing on the yellowing stalks of late summer grasses. I reveled in the silence of the weekday morning Valley. Finally, I had some time to myself away from the world. 

Just past the Bradford house in the shade of ancient Cottonwoods and Apple trees, I spotted a mule deer doe meandering around the Bradford lawn, keeping her head low and ears relaxed. I kept walking by to get into a more favorable position for taking pictures (the sun was on my back and the outhouse was clearly visible, ruining the shots). The doe didn’t even care to look up from the grass as I walked close by. She only lifted her head once she had a ripe windfall apple in her mouth. 

Right as I was getting my camera set up on its tripod, she stood nearby, tossing her head back like a gator as she downed the apple whole. While she did this, long strings of drool leaked from her bottom lips, a few stretching all the way to the ground before breaking off. It was gross but awesome at the same time; perfect for a handful of pictures. After a few minutes, I literally watched the apple slide down her neck. Then, she put her head down to grab another. 

Soon, I had my camera set up and aimed at her. But, unlike before, I didn’t have it in “sport mode”. I was feeling brave enough to have it entirely in manual mode, and began to mess around with the settings (as I learned in my Digital Photography class) till she appeared on my camera’s screen as I wanted her to. Finally, as she lifted her head with another apple in her mouth, I began to snap picture after picture, with only little pauses in between shots to allow my autofocus to do its job. 

As though she knew exactly what I was up to, she turned her head to face me as she continued to down that apple. It was as though she was posing for me, sticking her tongue out and twisting it around as I continued to snap photos of her.

Once she swallowed that apple, she glanced back down at the ground and began to approach me. I also looked down and noticed she was going after another apple, a mere five feet away from me. So, I picked up my tripod and moved several yards backwards, both to give the doe space and keep my camera focused on her entire head (instead of zooming in on her wiry forehead fur). 

Again, she took that apple in her mouth and drooled profusely as she tossed her head back repeatedly. Despite not being able to chew it down into smaller, sweeter bites, she was clearly enjoying that apple to its fullest. A few moments later, with one huge audible gulp, the apple slid down her throat. And just before she turned away from me to head towards a grove of apple trees, she burped.  

Me being the slightly immature person I am, laughed as this doe wandered off. I didn't know deer could inhale apples whole while drooling like that, nor have I ever heard a deer burp before. Luckily for me, I was in the right place at the right time, armed with my DSLR and some basic knowledge on how to use the camera's manual mode to block out the sun and focus on the deer in the shade, documenting the whole thing. 

But my day had only just started. I could still see my Xterra parked in the Bradford Pool parking lot from where I was. So, I quickly put my camera away in its bag (which I had slung across my right shoulder), and rested the tripod over my left shoulder, and headed deeper into the wilderness, towards a huge pile of red rock formations to the north.