Forums > General > Living, Working, Retiring

ganadero

Jun 1, 2003, 1:12 AM

Post #1 of 1 (457 views)

Shortcut

Has anyone ever seen Deer in great abundance in Mexico?

Can't Post |

Hello: A couple of months ago, I took my brother in law Chava and two of my nieces on a drive from AGS into the Sierra Fria.

I had driven this route many times alone or with my wife when I wanted a quick escape from the traffic, heat and confusion I felt living in AGS. There is nothing like a breath of pine tinged, cool mountain air to make a country boy well adjusted. I know when I am in the Sierra Fria when the friendly Semarnat Ranger waves and talks to me at the entrance of la Congoja and I can smell the wood smoke from the fireplaces in the pueblito.

On this particular trip with the temperature hovering above freezing, we hiked around some ponds and up into the hills. We had a great time and my teenage nieces actually had fun. On our way down the grade above la Labor, a deer jumped out in front of us. My brother in law suprised the heck out of me when he said this was the first deer he had ever seen in the wild!

Come to think of it, I hadn't seen any deer in the countryside in two years of living in Mexico. I thought this was strange since I live, work and play in the countryside and this area is excellent deer cover. I asked one of my other brother in laws about this; he said that illegal hunting pressure was to blame. He further stated that many people come out to the family ranches scattered throughout los Altos de Jalisco from GDL for the weekend and shoot at anything. At our family ranch, I have gone dove hunting, but everyone practiced excellent hunting ettiquette at all times.

In the Sierra Fria, which is a model of cooperative Wildlife/Forest conservation in cooperation with hunters and the people who need to make a living off of the natural resources, there is a prospering deer population so they say. For all the time I have spent trudging around those mountains I should have seen more wildlife by now

Recently, one of the Doctors at the hospital where my wife used to work almost hit a Deer near San Miguel el Alto. Other than a very few isolated incidents, deer sightings are rarer than UFO sightings.

However, just a couple weeks later, my brother in law and I were driving near Jerez de Garcia Salinas, ZAC and we saw two more small deer near the road.

Anybody ever see any deer, elk, bear or jaguares in great abundance while out and about in Mexico? I have a photo of some wild turkeys (not the kind you drink Uncle Don!) in the Sierra Fria on my Webshot site.

Ganadero
-----------

(This post was edited by ganadero on Jun 1, 2003, 1:18 AM)