The answer is definitely yes!

There are plenty of wild animals where I live and I’ve had a few close encounters. In fact, it’s the reason I rarely venture out at night, especially in winter and spring. One never know when a deer or something will pop out in the middle of a back road. Thankfully, I haven’t had any of these wild beasts invade my garden and let’s cross fingers that it never happens.

I was heading south to the city a few weekends ago. It was around 11 AM and I saw a deer sprint across the interstate (4 lanes both direction). Thankfully, it made it without becoming any unfortunate car’s roadkill.

I had several other close encounters on my road trip last December like encountering a family of deer on the highway at sunrise. Thankfully, I saw it from afar and was able to stop the car in time. The other close encounter was when I was walking the Canyon Rim trail at Grand Canyon when I suddenly heard snoring. Thankfully, I made it back to the road in 5 minutes but, man, that was a heart-pounding 5 minutes.

I think it has something to do with climate change but the wild animals in the state I live in have been acting strange in the last few years like venturing to places they don’t normally go and bears coming out of hibernation earlier than usual because of the mild winter.

I enjoy hiking in snow and I used to feel pretty safe when I go up into the local mountains in December or January. Not anymore. The last time I went up into the mountain at this time of the year was 2 years ago and I hiked until I heard the snapping of branches and not by me. Well, that’s my cue to run like my life depends on it.