yes deer poop is everywhere (and elk, and moose, and cougar and bear and all
those little forest creatures) but for some reason, it is ok in the water.
my friend monitors the natural springs that make up our water supply (on the
side of the mountain==no beavers) and he is only worried about human traffic
and dog traffic. so i suppose i am making my tea with deer poop water
(perhaps that is why it tastes good?), but it's at least better than the
water down in the city--which even my children refuse to drink at
restaurants. i'm not sure if deer carry giardia--but i'm thinking they must
not.

L

"TeaDave" > wrote in message
oups.com...
> Hey Lara, I live in the the US western mountains as well, but I wanted
> to point out that there is an awful lot of poop at higher altitudes. I
> was hiking two weeks ago in Rocky Mountain National park, and saw two
> deer close up while I was above treeline. Large quantities of (deer)
> droppings could be found past 13,000 ft., don't forget all the pikas
> and chipmunks that leave thier waste (albeit smaller droppings).
>