What's the most amazing thing about these photos is when were in Yellowstone last year we were hard pressed to see a bull--lots and lots (and I do mean lots) of female elk all over the place, but bulls were hard to come by. I think I caught two and they were both far, far away so I used the zoom to its max setting.
These bulls, however, were all over the place herding their harems. It is rutting/mating season in the Rockies right now and we were blessed with lots of elk and heard the males bugle a number of times--very cool! The bugling is a very distinctive sound that begins deep and resonant and becomes a high pitched squeal before ending in a succession of grunts. In the photos below if its a male (antlers are your clue) with his mouth open that means I caught him bugling! And at every location we saw elk we definitely saw the male with his harem, herding and protecting his precious property!
So let's get on with the photos. We saw elk in two different locations which were both marked as elk sighting areas--Moraine Park which was right next to the campground and higher up on Trail Ridge Road.
Well, that's probably enough elk for you. It truly was an amazing experience and Gary more than once had to jam on the brakes for an elk sighting! You also could tell from the number of cars pulled over to the side of the road that some sort of wildlife was present. But nowhere near as crazy as Yellowstone.
Next blog will be our first trip up Trail Ridge Road (we took the road twice). We never made it to the highest point, but it was a great ride into the alpine tundra area of the park.
1 Corinthians 14:8-9
For if the bugle produces an indistinct sound, who will prepare himself for battle? So also you, unless you utter by the tongue speech that is clear, how will it be known what is spoken?
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