The Elk Rut is On...

This weekend we took the opportunity (Sam had a 4 day weekend) to head up to Estes Park, Colorado and spend 2 nights. I casually mentioned to Sam that is was Elk breeding season and that I really wanted to go watch. Needless to say that got a second look and some raised eyebrows. However, I had read in the newspaper an article about how active the Elk are this time of year and how the bull Elk will bugle to attract the females and it is really quite interesting. I really had no interest in exposing myself or my children to the "breeding" and secretly hoped that would not be part of our trip (luckily it was not :-).

We stayed at the YMCA center of the Rockies. I've had friends that have stayed there and recommended it. They have a swimming pool, livery, climbing wall, mini golf, dining hall, bingo, craft center, gym, disc golf, lake for fishing, pool hall, ping pong, and a few other things. They are all available to members staying on sight. We took advantage of the mini golf, swimming, and fun "animal detective" class for the kids. The boys learned a new word in their animal detective class this weekend...scat. As we were walking to the mini golf we came across some scat and Ethan proceeded to tell me he was sure it was Elk scat instead of deer scat because it was all squished together. He also said humans have long really squished together scat. I said did you talk about human scat in your class? He proudly said; "no, I came up with that one on my own".

Our room had a queen size bed and two bunk beds! It was nice to have that kind of sleeping arrangements, however, the "lodge" was more like a college dorm and we would have liked a little more privacy and a little less noise. I think next time we'll stay in one of their many cabins.

Rocky Mountain National Park was beautiful! I highly recommend a trip to the park for anyone who hasn't been. It was nice to be there in fall and see all the leaves changing. We went into the park in the morning and drove around, took a few pictures, stopped at the visitors center, and then learned that the best time to come is during twilight. The elk start to get active around 5 pm and then "party" all night long. The ranger recommended we bring chairs and just plan to sit and watch for a few hours. So we came back at 4:30, and watched the rut. At 6 pm then the ranger gave a lecture about the Elk and their behaviors and what we were observing. I was fascinated to learn that the men urinate all over themselves to attract the females. Yum. The more urine they have on themselves...the stronger they are...thus the more attractive. Hmm. They can directionally shoot urine all over their necks! They also will urinate in one spot enough to make mud and then roll around in it. Essentially they do these things both to keep the other males away and to get the females to chose them as their mating partner. So in the end, it's the females who make the choice!

Here is a "funny" video of the main bull Elk in the herd we were watching chasing this female. It was really neat to listen to the bugle of the males (there were 5 total males in the herd we were watching). In this video it almost seems he bugles out of frustration. The whole time we were watching (about 2 hours) then the bull kept chasing this one female (she has a yellow collar). Needless to say he never did get her! I guess she was saving herself for a bigger stronger smellier male!