Elk

Laramie is in the midst of a thaw, and with the slush and the winds and it still being early March at 7200 feet, I didn't see anything new worth blogging about on my walks to and from work.  So I am going to take the opportunity to write--perhaps for the rest of the week!--about the interesting species I saw on March 4 at Red Mountain Open Space in Colorado. 

The Open Space had just re-opened to the public on March 1st (it closes for the winter to protect wildlife habitat), and on one of the trails, mine were obviously the first human feet that had passed that way for quite some time.  My arrival surprised a small group of elk, Cervus canadensis, two of whom were still sporting lovely sets of antlers (though their winter coats looked a bit worse for wear).  The males' antlers are ususally shed sometime in March or early April.

According to the elkplanet.com website, these two males could be seven or eight years old:  "In his second year, a bull elk usually grows slim, unbranched antlers called spikes that are 10-20 inches (25-50 cm) long. By the third year, antlers begin developing tines that branch from the main beam. By the seventh summer, a bull's antlers may have six tines each, weigh as much as 40 pounds (18 kg), and grow to a length and spread of more than four feet (1.2 m)."

Here in the West, elk are often called 'wapiti' after the Shawnee Indian word for 'white rump', which you can see in these photos, because the elk wanted nothing to do with me and were leaving.

The Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation has a very interesting website with great information on elk, including the sounds they make (click on the 'elk talk' link).  The male bugle during the fall rut is a distinct sound--and can be quite eerie when suddenly heard while out on a hike--but the females make odd barking sounds, too.  The only sounds the elk made yesterday were hoofbeats out of sight.