Doug Thorburn’s camera has provided me with a recent, but uncommon, view of Elk grazing in the forests of the South Selkirks high above Kootenay Lake.
Elk are social animals, but at this time of year, groups of cows, calves, and yearlings live apart from the bulls. This small group seems to contain a cow and a yearling female and male—the later with unbranched spike antlers.
This is probably a yearling female. It is too early in the season for calves.
A yearling male, with unbranched spike antlers, is in the foreground.
The cow, and both yearlings appear in this shot.
Doug Thorburn’s pictures are used with permission.
Returning to Nelson over the Salmo Creston Pass this last Sunday evening, we had two huge bull elk cross in front of us, still sporting their antlers from last year. Lucky for us, the bulls tend to be quite blond, and show up well in the headlights!