In fall and winter, we can observe elk in the meadows close to the Deschutes River. The herds vary in size. Elk are amazing and one can say majestic animals – in particular the mature females that lead these groups. So far bucks are rarely to be seen. A common scenario is that after a time of grazing in the open they cross the river to migrate into the wooded areas on the other side. It is not clear what triggers this crossing but normally what seems to be the lead animal of the herd lines up on the shore – observes the surrounding for quite a while and then descends to the water’s edge and starts wading through. In the winter the river is low so except for the younger elk in the herd swimming is not required. As the leading elk moves all the others line up and follow swiftly. Today it looked very different from usual. An indicator was perhaps already their behavior in the meadow during grazing where some animals started running back and forth – not clear if this was a form of playing with each other or just doing so individually for fun. The crossing procedure appeared to be starting as usual but this time when two mature elks went across the other group did not follow – so they went on to wander off into the woods. After quite a while the next batch started walking across but then something appeared to have scared them, and they walked swiftly back to the other side. First, I thought there was a dog or something, but shortly thereafter a deer showed up on the opposing shore – much smaller than the elk and not bothered by anything. It was clearly also rummaging around for food in the bushes adjacent to the river. I did not know that it could scare the much larger animals away. One would assume that they encounter each other on their daily journeys regularly. So, the elk kept standing on the other side, but it appeared to be not their lucky day. A few minutes passed and a flock of geese – perhaps fifteen or so lifted off a little way upstream and in a low and sure loud flyby passed the herd of elk still congregated by the river. Well, that scared them again and they dashed off deeper into the meadow. Like with the deer – geese are a very common sight here and yes, they are always noisy about something. It took perhaps another hour before the group made another crossing attempt – this time successfully.