Tag: antlers

Tule Elk

Bull Elk, Point Reyes National Seashore

Photo of big tule elk bull.
7-Point Bull, Tomales Peninsula

This photo was taken on February 22 near Pierce Point Ranch.  The bull is sporting a pretty impressive 7-point rack.  He won’t have those big antlers for long though.  I saw one of the Limantour herd bulls with only one antler that day.  It looks like antler-dropping season has begun.  Last year I posted a photo of a bull on February 15 whose antlers were gone and new antler growth was already quite visible.  To see that post click here.

Collecting antlers is illegal.  That doesn’t stop people though.  Antlers sold on the black market are worth a fair amount of money.  The Park Service goes out and tries to keep ahead of the collectors.  You may wonder what the Park Service does with the antlers.  The answer is that it grinds them up and puts them back in the areas where they found them because they are an important source of calcium and other minerals for rodents and other wildlife.  For a photo of an elk with a deer antler in its mouth click here.

It’s too bad people won’t just leave them where they’ve fallen, but they won’t.  As long as people want animal parts (tusks, horns, paws, teeth, gall bladders etc.), and are willing to pay for them, there will be people who will hunt for those parts even if it means killing the animals (which it usually does).  Unfortunately, this is the way it’s always been.

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Tule Elk Bulls Sparring with their Hooves, Point Reyes National Seashore

Photo of two tule elk bulls fighting with their hooves.
Tule Elk Boxing, Point Reyes National Seashore

These two bulls were sparring with their hooves because their antlers obviously aren’t ready for fighting.  This photo was taken yesterday near Pierce Point Ranch just as the sun was setting.  Chrysler was there shooting commercials for several of its cars and trucks.  It occupied the Pierce Point Ranch parking lot, the McClure’s Beach parking lot, and the east side of the road leading to the ranch.  It looked like a movie set.  They may be out there today as well.

This photo was underexposed about one and a half stops because the mode dial on my Canon 7D got moved inadvertently from AV to manual.  This happens too easily and frequently.  Canon now offers to fix this problem for a fee.  I don’t know why Canon hasn’t always made the prosumer cameras so that the mode dial can’t be changed inadvertently.   You shouldn’t have to send in your camera to prevent this from happening.

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Tule Elk in Velvet

A tule elk stands with antlers in velvet.
Tule elk with antlers in velvet, Point Reyes National Seashore

There are three things in the photo above that say it’s spring to me.  The first thing is the flowers.  The second is the change occurring in the elk’s coat from a warmer (longer), lighter-colored, winter coat to a cooler (shorter), darker, summer coat.  The third thing is the early-stage growth of antlers.

During the winter season the Point Reyes tule elk shed their antlers.  Almost immediately after shedding them they began growing new antlers.  Under that velvet skin the antlers are engorged with blood.  At this early stage you can easily see evidence of blood-rich tissue.  Below is a cropped version of the above photo showing the blood-rich tissue.

Close-up profile of elk in velvet
Close-up of Tule elk in velvet
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Tule Elk’s New Antlers; A Work In Progress

Tule Elk shows new antlers growing.
Tule Elk, Point Reyes National Seashore

This bull has shed his antlers and has the beginnings of new ones.  Recently, I posted some photos of two bull elk fighting at Tomales Point and said that some bulls were already shedding their antlers.  That was based on having seen several bulls in the Limantour herd that had shed one or both antlers, including the subject elk.  However, last Saturday I was at the Tomales Point Elk Reserve and noticed that none of the bulls that I saw had shed any antlers.   That surprised me.  For some reason the Limantour herd seems to be shedding antlers earlier than the larger Tomales Point herd.

At this time of year the Park Service has to be on the lookout for people who collect antlers to sell.  That is against the law.  Yet, people do it knowing it is illegal.  There must be enough money in it for some people to break the law.  It could be worse.  I mean they aren’t killing the elk for the antlers.  Countless animals are killed illegally every day for one  or more body parts that are marketable.  This happens to many species. The ones that come to mind for me now are sharks, bears, tigers and elephants, but there are many more.