Big bulls and autumn leaves
Anya Norton took this photo in Bear Valley Springs of a pair of American Elk bulls on an autumn morning. Anya said that “This was the peaceful morning scene outside our kitchen window.”
Also known as Rocky Mountain Elk (Cervus canadensis nelsoni), these animals are descended from a group of about 400 elk that were imported around 1966 from the Yellowstone area in Wyoming to the Rex Ellsworth Ranch in the southwest corner of Cummings Valley, which became the Stallion Springs community that encompasses about 10,500 acres.
Over the years, the elk have slowly spread to Bear Valley Springs and other areas in the Tehachapi Mountains.
Elk are among the largest deer in the world, and they grow from about 35 pounds at birth to approximately 500 pounds for an adult cow and 700 pounds for an adult bull. Calves are usually born in late May or June. Like the newborn offspring of other deer species, the calves have spots to help camouflage them to protect them from predators, and also lack any scent.
The mothers spend most of their time grazing away from the newborn calves, which typically lay hidden in tall grass. The cow returns only a few times a day to nurse her baby.
The bulls, like the ones in Anya’s photo, spend most of their time alone or in bachelor herds with other bulls. During the autumn rut, the dominant bulls establish harems of cows and their calves, and will keep other bulls away in order to maintain the brief breeding opportunities for themselves.
The Nuwä (Kawaiisu or Southern Paiute) word for elk is parahui, which is pronounced pah-rah-HOO-ee and means “water deer,” since tühui means “deer” and pa is a prefix meaning “water.”
NATURAL SIGHTINGS is a regular feature of the Tehachapi News edited by Jon Hammond which showcases photos of the natural beauty that enhances the quality of life in Tehachapi. If you have a good quality image of plants, animals, insects, trees, birds, weather phenomena, etc., taken in the Tehachapi area, you may submit it to the Tehachapi News. Submissions can be dropped by the News office in the form of a print or CD, or sent by email to: editorial@tehachapinews.com.