Wildlife Watching Wednesday: The Enormous Bugling Elk

By: Tom Berg

In the western United States, the second largest member of the deer family roams the mountains and meadows.  This is the elk, or wapiti as they were known to Native Americans when Europeans first appeared on the continent.  Wapiti means “white rump”, which refers to the light-colored fur or hair around their backside.  When in danger, they can raise this brightly colored fur as a warning to other elk nearby, similar to the way whitetail deer can raise their white tail as a danger signal.

Adult male elk are called bulls, and they are very large animals indeed.  The females are called cows.  Bulls can reach weights of 1,000 pounds or more and stand five feet tall at the shoulder.  They have a luxurious dark brown coat of hair during the summertime, but this coat becomes lighter during the fall and winter.  Of all species of deer living today, only the moose is larger than the elk.

Large adult bull elk grow an impressive set of antlers each year, and these antlers are used during the fall mating season to battle other bulls when asserting dominance over the herd.  Dominant males get the privilege of mating with the females of his local “harem”.  Most mature bulls have racks with six tines (or points) per antler.  Antlers are shed in early spring, usually sometime in March, as the weather begins to get warmer.

During the breeding season, bull elk will become very vocal as they seek out mates.  The mating season usually runs from early September through the end of October.  Males make loud bugling calls to attract females and to warn rival males to stay away.  This multi-toned call lets prospective mates know that the bugling bull is the biggest, healthiest and strongest around.  If another male disagrees, the fight is on!

Elk live in many places in the vast western landscape, but two places where they are common is Rocky Mountain National Park and Yellowstone National Park.  They live in many other areas out west, too.  They prefer open forest habitats, where there is plenty of grass, forbs and bushes for them to graze upon.

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