“At the present time, so far as the Yosemite National Park is concerned, the greatest potential value of the deer lies in their esthetic appeal; in observing them the visitor is thrilled with delight, and his mind and senses are acutely stimulated.”
Animal Life in the Yosemite: An Account of the Mammals, Birds, Reptile, Amphibia ns, in a Cross-Section of the Sierra Nevada
It takes a highly-skilled director or conductor to keep an audience focused on a film or orchestral production to its very end. A well-thought-out show will keep the attendees in hushed silence, zeroed in intently on what is happening in front of them so they lose track of time. Success can be measured when the last word or note in the closing scene or musical finale is followed by a unanimous eruption of vigorous and sustained applause.
The show-stopping experience moves the audience beyond what they could have imagined. They rise up in a unified display of appreciation, having received not only intangible benefits from being present, but having also gained a greater awareness of themselves.
At times, I muse that Yosemite employs such a skilled director or conductor. Working behind the scenes, this overseer orchestrates thoughtful scenes to impact the hearts and minds of those observing. A recent example occurred after a “prewinter” snowstorm blanketed Yosemite with snow on December 9, 2021. Was I happy about that? Oh, yes! California continues to suffer from on-again/off-again drought conditions. We Californians consider any drop of long-awaited moisture that falls on the “Golden State” as good news! Plus, more water produces a healthier ecosystem, which nourishes wildlife of all kinds.
But, something even rarer than a moisture-laden storm filled me with glee. Curious about the extent of the storm in the Sierra Nevada Mountain range on that day in December, I visited the Yosemite Conservancy’s streaming webcams located in Yosemite National Park. The “Half Dome” webcam displayed a frosty white, snow-covered wonderland. The wintry scene alone would have made my day as it completely changed the landscape from late autumn austere to winter wow!
But that wasn’t the end of it! The director I imagined saw fit to provide additional drama to the scene: I saw a deer dance across the whiteness! I say “dance” because that’s the only way I can describe the movement of a California Mule Deer when it quickly springs across a meadow opening.
Admittedly, the California Mule Deer, with its somber coloration, would not win any animal beauty contest compared to, let’s say, a colorful male peacock displaying its full wares. However, when it comes to dancing or gliding through the forest or a mountain meadow, they do win my vote for grace.
When this lone deer dashed across the snowy meadow via live stream, my attention focused intently on its movement. Its romp across the snow-covered Ahwahnee Meadow did not consist of a casual walk as if it was foraging for food or moving quietly through the forest. That mode of travel, where one leg moves before the other with each hoof being lifted and set down vertically, is what the average Yosemite visitor sees when observing deer in the Park. No, a skilled director would not resort to such banality.
Neither did its movement look like a quick run in which the legs move alternately, one after the other, similar to a walk, but with more rhythm and speed. That might prompt more excitement than a casual stroll, but it would not sufficiently dignify the snowy scene. Deer running in this manner usually do so as a form of retreat from some perceived danger.
No apparent danger, however, seemed to exist. Maybe this deer simply had the need to celebrate the joys of the first snowfall in Yosemite Valley! Whatever the case, this third form of travel seemed to be an expression of merriment. Although some might call it a gallop, I call it a dance. It’s an effortless bounce into the air where both the front and hind legs move in unison like springs that catapult the deer high above the ground to get them wherever they wish to go. One National Park Information sheet states that “This bounding gait serves two . . . purposes—to permit the animal to clear the brush in which it characteristically lives, and, with each upward leap of the animal, to enable it to see above the brush and thus to extend considerably its field of vision.”
It combines the mesmerizing movement of a human shuffle dance with the elegance of ballroom dancing. The flowing movement of form is much smoother than a gallop and displays some of the most beautiful animal behavior I have ever seen.
The first time I ever saw a deer demonstrate this “dance” occurred while hiking along the Wawona Meadow Loop trail. A few friends and I walked near a grassy wash on the inner edge of the trail where the land transitions from forest to meadow. Among the willows, sedges, buttercups, and lupine of this semi-damp transition zone included a few pine and oak trees serving as shelter for wildlife.
As we gazed out on the scenery, without warning, five deer of various sizes made bounding leaps high into the air above the chaparral across our line of vision from right to left. Our presence interrupted their camouflaged foraging activity. As they bounded away in front of us, they displayed a stunning unity of movement, as if their synchronized leaps had been practiced beforehand. Their gaze remained focused forward and they stayed equidistant from one another while moving ahead to find a human-free zone.
If someone had told me that these five deer belonged to a trained dance troupe touring the National Parks and bringing delight to visitors, I’d be inclined to believe them. To add a touch of whimsy, their black-tipped tails bobbed up and down in unison as they bounced past us. Seeing their grace and elegance even then got me thinking that some master choreographer working behind the scenes developed this exquisite dance ensemble.
So, on December 9th, I benefited again from this display of enchanting animal behavior. I completely stopped what I was doing and became focused with a hushed silence. I certainly lost track of time. This deer’s frolic across the frosty white stage turned the scene into a show-stopper, or, in this case, a ‘snow-stopper’, fitting perfectly with the setting and ambiance.
When the deer exhibited its final leap across the icy snow and came to a stop, I felt every cell in my body rise up in unified appreciation, expressing vigorous and sustained applause for this snow-stopping scene. I also imagined, with a cheerful inkling, that some highly-skilled director working behind the scenes joined me in doing the same.
Image Below Courtesy of The Yosemite Conservancy
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