When we first moved to the Payson area, we lived in mobile home about two miles South of Star Valley (a small town four miles East of Payson). Now this put us OUT IN THE COUNTRY! we had all kinds of wildlife around. One morning a woodpecker woke us early banging on the metal roof. We had an owl perched near and calling one evening. And one night, in the Fall, I woke up and heard what sounded like a SCREAM. It was down at the end of the valley and I wasn't sure I heard right, but as I lay awake listening it moved closer, and then passed our house.
It scared me half to death at first. I swear, it sounded like a woman screaming. I wondered if I should wake my husband, should we get up and see about it, should we call 911? But the way the sound was moving up the valley, with no other noises, no commotion or sounds of violence, made me think it MUST be an animal.
Turns out it was a bull elk. If you have never heard them, watch the video (make sure you turn your sound on).
Elk are calling all over the Rim Country. We live in town now, but behind us are 5 acre lots and National Forest is near (not uncommon in Payson). One night we heard an elk SO CLOSE that we could hear the intake of breath before he bugled. We couldn't see him, he must have been in the trees, on the 5 acre lot behind us.
If you love Fall, or miss it because you now live in the desert, come and visit Northern Arizona. The nights are just starting to cool, and the leaves will start changing soon.
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