I am a little sad that it is the last day for Animals of the Canadian Rockies. As usual, I had a ton of fun writing about these mountain animals. We will end the theme with the Elk. I know it doesn’t quite compare to Bigfoot but I think we can still make today’s Wild Fact pretty interesting. Although Elk are found throughout the Rocky Mountains and are native to North America (as well as eastern Asia) they have also been introduced to other countries including New Zealand, Australia and Argentina. We all know what happens when you introduce a new species into an exotic environment but we won’t get into that here.
The Elk is also known as the Wapiti or by the sciency-latin term Cervus canadensis. Although Elk are related to deer they are usually much larger than their cervid cousins. The Wapiti can weigh up to 899 kg (1100 lbs) and some males (known as bulls) can stand as tall as 2.7 m (9′). Of course a good portion of that height has to do with the four foot antlers the bull is carrying around. As a result of this the height of the bull Elk decreases significantly around March when their antlers fall off. Luckily they begin to grow them back in a couple of months.
So how does the Wapiti spend their time on the mountains of the Canadian Rockies? Well during the early summer the Elk will begin to wander up to the top of the mountains. It is at these grazing grounds that the female elk (called a cow) will give birth to her beautiful but awkward looking calf. Like other mountain animals (see Mountain Goat) the young calf is able to stand within 20 minutes of birth. The Elk will hang around in the upper portions of the mountains through to the late summer breeding season before migrating to the lower valleys in the winter. During this migration down the mountain the Wapiti will gather into large herds and make the trek as a group. The funny part about this large herd is the fact that the bulls and cows will usually remain separate from one another. This reminds me of my Grade 4 sock hop dance with the girls on one side of the gym and boys on the other.
Elk Fast Fact – At one time Elk were found right across North America, however, humans manage to hunt them down and eventually force them into hiding. Now they can usually be found in the mountainous regions of northwestern North America. Elk reintroduction has begun into wooded areas in the States and in Canada.
That does it for this week of Wild Facts. Again, I would like to thank Agapelife for the great theme idea. It was a blast writing up facts about the animals of the Canadian Rockies. Enjoy the weekend everyone!
