Jim Coda Nature Photography

February 8, 2011Uncategorized

Ear-Tagged Elk

This cow elk has been ear-tagged. — Tule Elk, Point Reyes National Seashore

Here is an ear-tagged cow elk. She is one of almost 500 elk at the Tule Elk Preserve at Tomales Point. There is an identifying number on her right ear tag. The other tag was inserted in the opposite direction. I don’t know for sure why that was done, but I’m assuming it has the same identifying number and was inserted that way so the identifying number would be visible from the rear of the animal. This herd has not increased in size for some time and therefore seems to be self-regulating. The other herd, the Limantour Herd, numbers about 100 animals.

February 2, 2011Uncategorized

Tule Elk, Point Reyes National Seashore

Just before sunset, a bull elk looks across a field and sees another one of those creatures with only two legs.

This is one of the biggest bulls I’ve seen at Point Reyes. A large Tule elk bull will weigh about 600 pounds. While that may seem fairly heavy, Roosevelt (AKA Olympic) bull elk, which inhabit coastal forests from Northern California up into British Columbia, can weigh more than 1,000 pounds. The Rocky Mountain (AKA American) elk splits the difference. A Rocky Mountain bull elk can weigh up to 800 pounds. Rocky Mountain elk are by far the most numerous.

January 22, 2011Uncategorized

Tule Elk, Point Reyes National Seashore, Marin County, California

Photo of a tule elk cow. — Cows Know Best

A cow elk gazes off into the distance. Pardon the anthropomorphism, but she looks like she is smiling. This photo was taken at the Tule Elk Refuge on Tomales Point.

December 23, 2010Uncategorized

Tule Elk, Point Reyes National Seashore

Photo of a bull tule elk exhibiting the flehmen response. — Tule Elk near sunset, Point Reyes National Seashore; Love Is in the Air

This 7-point bull is exhibiting the Flehmen Response with its head and upper lip raised. Certain species of mammals do this to increase their ability to detect and evaluate scent. It’s a common sight during the mating season, but it can occur any time of the year. This photo was taken in mid December, well past the end of the rut.

November 30, 2010Uncategorized

Tule Elk, Point Reyes National Seashore

A bul elk walks inside a corral at the Kehoe Ranch. — Bull Elk in Corral

As I mentioned in a recent post, the elk at Tomales Point are kept there by a fence that runs across the peninsula from Tomales Bay to the ocean. However, occasionally they will go around the end of the fence. I’ve seen bulls outside the enclosure, but never a cow. Here is a bull that was inside a corral at the Kehoe Ranch on October 31. Twenty minutes later when I came back from the Pierce Point Ranch area the bull was gone. The gate was open. I assume that’s how the bull got in. Later, I realized that I should have told the people at the Kehoe Ranch and/or the Park Service that the bull was in the Kehoe corral. Maybe it was an opportunity to get the animal back into the enclosure.

November 27, 2010Uncategorized

Tule Elk, Point Reyes National Seashore

I saw this bull on my last trip to Point Reyes. He was in the elk enclosure at Pierce Point. I think the rut was over, but he was with a half dozen females.

November 24, 2010Uncategorized

Tule Elk, Point Reyes National Seashore

A cow elk grazes near Pierce Point. — Tule Elk, Point Reyes National Seashore

This cow elk was spotted feeding near the former Pierce Point Ranch which is located on the Tomales Point Peninsula. The Tomales Point Peninsula is where elk were re-introduced to the Seashore in about 1975. They are restricted by a fence that was erected just before the re-introduction. It runs across the peninsula from Tomales Bay to the ocean. The fence was installed to keep the elk out of the ranches on the Seashore.