Food hunting

A herd of 24 mule deer graze in the Bureau of Reclamation's Visitor Center park below Grand Coulee Dam Jan. 19 about 3 p.m. Much of the group roams west Coulee Dam most of the day and night, but they can all be seen in the park in the mid to late afternoons, looking for a little more sustenance to get them through to spring, when new growth sprouts. Wildlife experts warn against feeding the deer, which take months to adapt to new types of food. Several starved to death in Coulee Dam a few years ago, full of grain in the first of their four stomachs. They couldn't digest it, and it blocked any other food they ate from passing into their digestive systems. - Scott Hunter photo