By Pam Hendrickson White deer in the Gila Photo by Dianna Dobbs High in New Mexico 's Mogollon Mountains, a lone golden eagle struggles briefly with a sudden updraft in the thin air, then wheels downward. His sharp eyes easily spot an alpine rabbit skittering across a grassy slope. Only a few misshapen fir, aspen, and spruce encroach on the windswept meadow. A gaudy painted bunting warbles, miles below, to a gentle breeze stirring the leaves of cottonwoods that line the banks of the Gila River.
Trout shimmer in the clear depths, and a blue dragonfly darts by a quiet pool of water.
Several swallowtail butterflies flit back and forth, finally settling on the sweet centers of heart-shaped buttercups clustered in the moist earth. Not far away, as the mountain bluebird flies, fairy-slippers shelter beneath a giant ponderosa pine, lifting their deep purple faces to the early sun. A whitetail mother deer keeps a vigilant eye on her two fawns chasing each other around the forest glade, all bumble and stumble. As black bears go, he will be a medium to large animal when he grows up. Before long, he will be leaving territorial signs on trees instead of romping in them.