Elk Bust in the Snow

Sometimes, as a wildlife photographer, you come across a unique opportunity for a photo. Sometimes you don't even know how good it is until you get back and download your photos --- or in this case develop your film. What a surprise this was!! An Elk lying down on the bank of Medicine Lake in Alberta. It has become one of my most requested photos:

Elk

Pairs of Two: Eleven

A couple more "fighting pairs":

First, two young Bighorn Sheep Rams. They seemed more like playing than trying to establish dominance. 

Bighorn Sheep (Clemon Mountain, Washington)

 The two Bull Elk here stopped jousting when they saw me. But within a couple of seconds they were jousting again.

Elk (just outside Jasper National Park, Alberta)

National Wildlife Refuges

National Bison Range, Montana, 1908

While Teddy Roosevelt set aside some of the first Wildlife Areas by Executive Order starting in 1903, by 1908 he finally got Congress to agree to a Nationwide allocation and management program . And, the National Bison Range was established with the first Congressional appropriations ever made for the purchase of lands for a national wildlife refuge. The original herd of bison, released in 1909, was purchased with private money from the American Bison Society; the herd was then donated to the Range. The National Bison Range helped bring the bison back from the edge of extinction. Today, 350 to 500 bison call the Range home.

Much of the Range was once surrounded by prehistoric Lake Missoula, which was formed by a glacial dam 10,000 years ago. The old beach lines of Lake Missoula are still visible on north-facing slopes. Today, the National Bison Range has a diversity of habitats, including grasslands, Douglas fir and ponderosa pine forests, riparian areas, and ponds. The National Bison Range is one of the last intact publicly-owned palouse prairie grasslands in the United States.

In addition to herds of bison, the Range supports populations of elk, mule deer, white-tailed deer, pronghorn, and bighorn sheep as well as coyotes, mountain lions, bears, and bobcats. The Refuge has recorded 211 bird species.

This is one of my favorite Refuges. As you will see from the photos, I have been there at different times of the year: winter, summer, spring, and fall. Much like Yellowstone, it never disappoints. Although, I always go there looking for mammals, occasionally I find a bird or two worth a photo.

Rocky Mountain Bighorn Sheep - Ram

American Bison: I had been looking all the previous afternoon and following morning for  Bison. Then to my surprise came across this lone Bull standing in the snow.

Elk getting a drink from a small pond.

Mule Deer: still velvet on their antlers, late Summer.

Pronghorn in Thistles

Pronghorn in Snow

White Tailed Deer: When Whitetails are calm their tails are down. When they are cautious, there tails are horizontal. When they are nervous, their tails are up. Here are three Whitetails showing all three positions. (Photo from 1992)

Blue Grouse: a pleasant surprise.

Lazuli Bunting

sleeping Through it All: Part II

Here are some of the other photos of mammals laying down:

Elk: Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming

Javelina: Our Bed and Breakfast

Moose: Near Maligne Lake, Alberta, Canada

Mountain Goats: Mount Evans, Colorado

Mule Deer: Chiricahua Mountains, Arizona

Pronghorn: Eagle Creek, Arizona

White Tail Deer: Mt. Elden, Arizona

Advent Calendar - December 20th

It was minus 11 degrees on Medicine Lake, Alberta, January 13, 1999. And there he sat:

Bull Elk in Snow

Driving the Back Road from Flagstaff to Tucson - Part I

I started out at 4:00 AM in hopes of getting to Mormon Lake by first light.  My hope was to find some Elk. I was rewarded with four very large Bull Elk. Unfortunately, they were deep in the woods with not quite enough light yet to produce a photo of the highest quality. Photographing wildlife under these conditions is tricky at best. Look at all the trees in the way. At least in this photo I got three of the four looking straight at me. Elk in Arizona are cautious at best. They tend to run as soon as they see you. Much different than the Elk that walk down main street in Jasper, Aberta or Mamoth, Yellowstone. So, I didn't an opportunity to move around to get a better angle. Still I am happy for seeing them, and happy for this photo:

Four Bull Elk

HOOFED MAMMALS: Elk Stories-VIII

This will be my last Elk Story, for now anyway. The fall rut is quite a fascinating event. I have shown you Elk bugling, and jousting from my recent trip to Colorado. Here though, are a couple older photos from just outside Jasper National Park in Alberta. These two Elk had locked antlers when they noticed me. So they turn to look. I guess they could see that I wasn't a threat to them so, they simply went back to what they were doing. They didn't seem to be aggressive toward each other. It was almost like a "hand shake." The first one is one of my favorites. (I know I say that a lot, but it is true.)

HOOFED MAMMALS: Elk Stories-VI

Elk, which are also called Wapiti, are the largest species of deer in the world. Moose which are in their own family are larger. (Moose, by the way are called "elk" in Europe). Elk typically live in forest and forest-edge habitats feeding on grasses, plants, tree leaves, and tree bark. There are four subspecies of Elk still in existence in North America (Roosevelt, Rocky Mountain, Tule (California), and Manitoban (Canada). Typically, Elk migrate toward higher elevations in the Spring, lower elevations in the fall. This first photo was a Rocky Mountain Elk taken on the tundra at 12,000 in September 2009:

But, Roosevelt Elk found in the Olympic Mountains of Washington and along the Oregon Coast, tend not to migrate because of the more moderate climate (i.e. availability of food). This next series of photos is of Roosevelt Elk found at sea level near the mouth of the Lewis River. You can just see the Pacific Ocean in the background of the first two photos:

The Roosevelt Elk are the largest of the North American species -- although, these don't seem particularly large to me. (They look a little thin). As I found them they started walking toward me. I carefully moved backward until they got to a point where they lay down. Once lying down a got a few more photos:

HOOFED MAMMALS: Elk Stories-V

Snow usually makes for a nice contrast as well as point out the setting in which the photo was taken. And so they often make for an interesting photo. Here are three "Elk in Snow" photos; all from Jasper National Park in Alberta. The first is on the way to Pyramid Lake. This big guy was just laying in the snow so peacefully. Never got up, never really moved. I also like the Aspen trees in the photo.  

The second is on Medicine Lake. The way it turned out was a pleasant surprise. It was back in the film days so I didn't really know what I had until the film was developed. Happens to be one of my favorites and one of my most requested:

The last one was taken near the train tracks on the way out of Jasper toward Hinton. I had forgotten about this photo, but Christine saw it while scanning my photos and said she liked it. So, ...

HOOFED MAMMALS: Elk Stories-III

Bull Elk tend to be solitary creatures -- except during the rut. So occasionally, when I am driving or wandering around I come across one. Over the years I have collected a large number of Elk (and Deer) photos, so while I might slow down to take a look, I usually don't stop and take a photo unless there is something unique about the background, the lighting, size of a Bull's antlers, or a cow with her calf. (This is not true of Elk in Arizona. I am still trying to get some good close-ups of Arizona Elk). I'll show you two in particular that caught my attention while in Canada. The first one was a large Bull who I shared a moment with:

This next one, is one of Christine's favorites. It was very early morning, probably May judging from the Bull's antlers. Mist coming off the lake. Idyllic!

HOOFED MAMMALS: Elk Stories-II

You can easily guess the approximate time of year by looking at Elk's antlers. These photos are likely late May or early June at the latest. The antlers are still growing and not fully formed. My recollection is that Elk antlers grow about one inch every three days or so depending on age, genetics, and stress. Elk shed their antlers in early Spring and new growth begins in early April. This Elk's antlers appear to be about 18-20 inches so late May early June seems like a reasonable assumption. The velvety antlers are full of blood vessels, so Elk are very careful with them during the growing season.  I was able to get a little closer for that reason.Once the rut starts in September its another story. I keep much further away. If I recall correctly, I came across this lone Bull on a dirt road spur out to the Moab Lake trailhead in Jasper National Park. You can see in the close-up that the antlers almost look like sponge.

HOOFED MAMMALS: Elk Stories

As I begin Elk Stories, I must say that Elk behavior is very different in different locations. Here in Arizona, Elk are fiercely hunted. So, typically when I come across one or more they take off running like their life depended on it. In Yellowstone, Jasper, or Banff Elk are protected and can be seen walking through the towns. So, as easy as it can be to photograph Elk in Yellowstone, Jasper, or Banff, I still enjoy finding them in the Wilderness areas of those parks. In the case today, I was driving out Celestine Road in Jasper National Park, Alberta.  This is a 4 x 4 road only, that eventually becomes one way only. How can that be? Well, certain times of the day it is one way out, and other times of the day it is one way back. It is closed at night. It ends up at a trailhead to Celestine Lake. The only time I have ever seen another human out that road was when the other person was driving back during a time when it was one-way out. I was going out. He was coming back. That was very tricky. The road is one way for a reason. We had to both get out of our vehicles and assess the safest way to pass each other. Since he apologized I didn't make a big case out of it. I did ask him to take the route along the edge of the mountain, though. I don't remember whether it was this particular trip or not but along the way I passed this wonderful large Bull Elk lying on the ground:

The temperature was minus something yet he didn't seem to mind at all. And, truth be told, I didn't either. I got out of the truck and walked to get a better angle and a little closer. After a minute or two he got up and gave me several wonderful photos: