Tag: bull tule elk

Tule Elk

Bull Tule Elk; Point Reyes National Seashore

This is a photo of a mature bull tule elk lying in a field of silage plants in January.

Bull Elk Lying in an Early-Growth Silage Field

Some ranchers who lease ranch lands from the National Park Service at Point Reyes National Seashore are allowed to grow non-native plants to feed to their cattle.  The plants are mowed when still green in late April and May.  Aside from the fact that this silage growing involves the annual introduction of non-native plants into the national seashore, some ground-nesting and near-ground nesting birds and their nestlings are chopped up during mowing.   Also, female deer give birth to and hide their fawns in silage fields.  The fawns are also chopped up during mowing.  Why the Park Service supports ranching on NPS-owned lands involving over 5,500 cows, let alone silage growing with its annual killing of wildlife, is beyond me.

Tule Elk

Bull Elk with Barbed Wire in Antlers, Point Reyes National Seashore

This is a photo of a bull tule elk with barbed wire caught in his hantlers.
Tule Elk with Barbed Wire Caught in Antlers

Here’s a photo of a bull tule elk I took recently at Point Reyes.  He has some barbed wire tangled in and hanging from his antlers.   I don’t know how this happened, but it’s most likely because the wire was left on the ground.  Bull elk joust with bushes and other vegetation and if some careless rancher leaves unwanted wire on the ground some of it winds up in elk and deer antlers.   It isn’t likely to fall out of the antlers on its own, but it is likely to injure or kill the animal like it did the bull elk below that died at Point Reyes some time ago.

Photo of bull elk with barbed wire holding its jaw shut.
The barbed wire around nose and chin held mouth shut.

As I’ve said before, the fencing situation at Point Reyes is terrible.  It’s not wildlife-friendly, that is, it’s difficult and dangerous for wildlife to get past it.  It’s poorly maintained.  When I wrote the post on fencing I found broken fences with hanging wires in many places.  Something needs to be done because the current situation is killing the wildlife of the park.

Maybe fencing should be taken out of the hands of the ranchers.  The Park Service could contract with one or more fence companies who would build and maintain the fencing to wildlife-friendly standards and the Park Service would bill the ranchers for the cost.

Tule Elk

Bull Elk in Velvet, Point Reyes National Seashore

hPoto of bull tule elk in velvet
The Life Cycle Continues

I was out at Point Reyes recently.  The male elk are all sporting new antlers covered in velvet.  They’re also still shedding their lighter-colored winter coats.  This bull was in the Tule Elk Preserve.  He was in a group of about 20 bulls.

I didn’t get a clear look at all of them, but three of them, and possibly a fourth, looked like they were suffering from diarrhea.  That made me wonder if they had early-stage Johne’s Disease, which leads to death.  For an earlier discussion of Johne’s Disease at Point Reyes, click here.

Tule Elk

Bull Elk, Point Reyes National Seashore

Photo of big bull tule elk.
A 7-Point Bull on the D Ranch

I photographed this bull the day I photographed the badger.  I’ve seen and photographed him before.  He’s one of the Limantour herd that uses the D Ranch as part of its habitat.  What’s nice about these elk is that they are often on the east side of the road to Drake’s Beach in the late afternoon.  The light is usually pretty nice then.

Tule Elk

A Lot of Bull, Point Reyes National Seashore

Photo of a tule elk bull at end of rut.
Bull Tule Elk

The day I photographed the peregrine (my last post) I also saw this big 7×8 point bull.  He was with about 40 cows and calves a short distance west of the Drake’s Beach Road.  I don’t like the background, but I think the size of this bull warrants a posting.

My postings have slowed down recently because I decided a month or so ago to make the images on my website much larger and it is taking a lot of time.  When I started I thought I’d use one or more actions to speed up the process.  However, as I assessed what was ahead of me I came to the conclusion that my Photoshop skills had improved enough that I could improve most of the images if I went back to the background layer of each image.  It’s going to take a few more weeks to get the revised site up, but I think it will be well worth the extra time.

Tule Elk

Bull Tule Elk During the Rut

Photo of bull tule elk.
Bull Tule Elk, Point Reyes National Seashore

The rut is in full swing at Point Reyes.   This bull had a harem of six or seven cows and a few yearlings and calves near Pierce Point Ranch.  He got into one big fight with another bull of about equal size.  He prevailed, but these bull elk sure work hard to pass on their genes.  I saw a bull limping due to some problem with his left foreleg or shoulder.  It reminded me of a limping bull on the D Ranch near Drake’s Beach.  He also had something wrong with his left leg or shoulder.

Tule Elk

Bull Tule Elk After a Fight

Photo of a bull tule elk after a fight.
Injured Bull Tule Elk, Point Reyes National Seashore

I wrote this post at the same time as the previous one.  The point of this one was going to be to show how the bull in that post looked after an apparent fight.  In looking over the draft of this post I now realize this isn’t the same bull.  This bull’s antlers are “palmated,” especially the right one.  Furthermore, I don’t see any baling twine.  I guess I jumped to the conclusion that it was the same bull because this big bull was returning to the same 8 cows that I saw the previous bull with in the same spot an hour before.   In view of the fact that this is the one returning to the harem, it appears he is the dominant bull in this area.

He was limping very noticeably which seemed to be due to an injured left shoulder.  The area behind his lower left shoulder seems devoid of any hair.   His left flank may also show evidence of a fight.  He was panting heavily for the 10 to 15 minutes I observed him and his mouth was open almost all that time.  I assume this bull was in a fight with the bull in the previous post.  Even though he was showing signs of stress from what I presume was a fight, he still checked out a couple of cows that must have been close to being ready to mate.  Being the dominant bull is a lot of work and leaves the big bulls in a weaker state when winter arrives.  Point Reyes is a pretty safe place though for a weakened bull elk.  It’s a lot tougher in Yellowstone with the low temperatures, the snow and the wolves.