Yesterday Andy set the timer so the Christmas lights would go on between 5:30 and 9:30 every night, so we drove up to see them before dinner. It was cloudy, but the light from the half-full moon still shed some light. We saw two elk on the way up — the first was on the side of the highway, the second on one of the dirt roads. Andy had slowed down because he saw it heading away from the road, but then it changed its mind and ran right across the road in front of us. Andy hit the brakes so we stopped in time. An over-4,000-pound-car hitting an 800-to-900-pound bull elk would not have been pleasant for either the car or the elk. As it was it was just exciting.
We also saw a lot of rabbits and a deer running off when it saw us coming. It was nice having the lights as an excuse to drive up. They’re still working fine.
December 20, 2015
maybe he should leave them up year round!…
the friendly lights of the forest.
but then
i guess they wouldn’t be such a special treat.
i’m SO thankful you didn’t hit the elk.
like you say… not only for his sake… but your own!
it has been a “light the corners” kind of day here in the wren house.
and the wind gusting strong.
i’m a cozy hermit.
They wouldn’t be nearly as effective when the sun sets later. It’s the contrast between the dark nights and the bright lights that are so effective.
It warms my heart to think of you cozy in your wren house. 🙂
It truly does sound perfect!
Yes, it was nice. 🙂
Driving in the night in areas full of wildlife is always an exciting prospect. It has been a long time since I did it but Urmeela and I used to enjoy doing that up in our Western Ghats.
It’s like going into a different world.
Hope you and Andy drive slowly on those wilderness roads. But it s exciting to think you can encounter elk at any time! Merry Christmas, Jean!
I don’t drive on those roads because of my eyes, and Andy is a very sensible fellow. Thank goodness!
It does sound exciting and bit scary too, the fact that you and Andy could have collided with an Elk.
Recently I had to drive for quite some time in the dark, out in the countryside.
It was a little bit thrilling but also a little bit terrifying.
I was so tense that a deer would leap out of the darkness and into the road or that a semi-truck would come around a curve and drive right over me over drift over the centerline.
That would be scary! Especially a semi-truck.
how exciting, alright maybe scary – elk just there…I think the most daring of animals here would be horses or cows – wild horses are down in the central plateau but I don’t know if they try to race cars…
http://www.rarebreeds.co.nz/kaimanawa.html – actually the page has some great links to other rare breeds, have to bookmark it myself…
The poor elk just panicked and decided he would be safer across the road. Thank goodness Andy was alert.
PS Thanks for the link to the horses. They would be fun to see.