Happy Birthday!

I was heading up a slight incline (too slight to call it a hill ) on my way home today...head down, barely paying attention to anything. I was in a residential neighborhood...lots of closely spaced brick ramblers, carports, little plot o' grass...and I catch something out of the corner of my eye. I look up. A big doe deer is standing at the edge of a driveway, still as a statue. All of 5 feet away from me. "Hey" I call. She looks at me. "Gyet outta there." She looks away. Doesn't move.
Clearly unimpressed!

Then, I'm heading by a big horse field by the regional park near my house. I see something long, low, and black loping trough the field. I stopped my bike. It's longish - maybe 30" - low, narrow and with a long, thin black tail. It moved in a wave-like gait....not slinking like a cat. It stopped and looked in my direction (it was pretty far away...maybe 150 yards). I have no idea what it was...too small to be a fisher, and they're very rare around here. As near as I can figure, it was a river otter (unlikely) or a mink (more likely). I think it was too big to be a weasel. It was pretty cool, whatever it was. Definitely a first.