Travels in a Tin Can

Well, I would like to see them time a shot on a moving boat pressed up
against dozens of other tourists. Guess you had to be there.
In Big Sur we actually managed to get within a foot of a very wild
creature.... a ground squirrel! We came to the conclusion he was either blind,
near his burrow, or too hungry to leave the patch of grass he was eating.
Eventually he fled. A young key deer was the only animal we saw that
displayed neither the flight or fight instinct. This species of small deer is native
only to Big Pine Key in the Florida Keys and, with little else to do except
sunbathe, we decided to find some.
After two long designated walks through hot, poisonwood infested
forests we were feeling fairly cheated. We were also very freaked out because
a snake had fallen out of a tree really close to us on the second walk....
cunningly disguised as a branch! Was this going to be the first Lonely Planet
recommendation we could not find? (Not counting Joanie's) We had seen
some exotic creatures on one of the walks, round a pond called Blue Hole,
including a pink dragonfly and an albino catfish. We had even heard about an
11ft alligator from a local person, imaginatively named ‘Ali’ (the ‘gator, not the
local person you understand). But we wanted to see key deer. To this end we
went off the beaten track for a smelly walk by the sea on No Name Key.... but
still no sightings.
Inevitably, once we decided to give up and head home we spotted an
adult deer in the woods near the main road. We stalked it a bit taking photos
but then a much better subject appeared. A juvenile deer on the verge rather
than in the woods. We took loads of photos from the van and then on foot
quite close to it. Finally I approached in order to scare it off the road. Its