When I tell folks that we have some of the largest elk in the west just a few miles outside of town, people look at me sideways, with that look of, “Oh, sure.” This evening driving back into town, Jodie and I were greeted by three majestic bulls, sporting full velvet, and probably not yet fully grown racks. We have been getting rain almost daily for over a week, as the “monsoon” season has begun, and a normally dry desert is being transformed into a lush garden of tall grasses by the flash flooding caused by these thunderstorms. Wherever there is water, there is grass, and as a result, there are the large grazing animals. This bull really had a mouthful:

As you can see, the new grasses are growing up to 3 feet in height, to the bottom of his belly.

Around the next hill, a couple of more bull elk, The first one gracefully cleared the fence without breaking a sweat:

The elk are not the only ones down from the mountains to gorge on the lush new tender grasses…a small group of mule deer up to their haunches in dinner: