Critters here at Davis Mtns

Reputedly, there are black bears and mountain lions here.  I haven't seen any data, but my impression from reading is that the cats are very rare.  I'm guessing you could live a long life here and never see one.

One animal that is easy to see if you sit in our campground is the javelina.  The real name is the peccary, and nicknames include skunk pig and musk hog.  They are weird creatures, and not to be confused with feral hogs. They have very poor eyesight, which is remarkable when you realize they live in an area with predators such as coyote, bear, and mtn lions.  They just amble along, munching on things.  You can be walking 10 yards from them and they don't even look at you. It's like they are in their own world.  They are afraid of dogs and if they encounter one they can react aggressively.  They have sharp tusks and can mangle a dog in a fight.  So here we have to keep a close eye on our dog.

Here is one piggy that walked across our campsite:

There are a number of black tailed deer hanging around the park.  We saw these while walking the dog.  Of course the old girl wanted to light into them, which I found amusing because she wouldn't even make it up the rock ledge they were on top of.

Speaking of the dog, she is living the good life here, on the lookout for those javelinas:

I spent a half hour or so one morning at the bird feeder station.  My camera is just a little pocket jobbie, not up to the task of shooting birds, but I did what I could.  Among the birds I saw:

Western scrub jay

Ladder back woodpecker

Acorn woodpecker

Others, photos found on google

Pine Siskin:

Black-crested Titmouse:

Cactus wren:

And here's a Pyrrhuloxia, or Desert Cardinal:

Apologies to the copyright holders of those photos, but at least I'm not using them for profit.

We are headed to the area of Study Butte and Terlingua for the next three nights.  It is the western gateway to the National Park.  We will be staying outside of the park.