Resting Bull Elk
by Catherine Sherman
Title
Resting Bull Elk
Artist
Catherine Sherman
Medium
Photograph - Photography
Description
"Resting Bull Elk" by Catherine Sherman.
A bull elk rests on a lawn in Estes Park, Colorado, where he chews his cud, which is regurgitated plant material. The lawn where he rests was on his breakfast menu.
Elks have a four-chambered stomach that helps them to digest vegetation, such as grass, twigs and bark, and derive the maximum nutritional benefit from it. They eat as much as fifteen pounds of tough plant material each day.
Then the elk regurgitates his food (the cud) and ruminates (chews cud thoroughly). When the cud is completely chewed, the elk swallows it again. The food particles pass through the rumen and into the reticulum, the second chamber, for even more digestion. Then the food passes into the omasum, the third chamber, where water is squeezed out and absorbed into the elk's body. Finally, the food passes into the abomasum, the fourth and "true" stomach, where it is broken down to the molecular level so that it can be absorbed by the intestine.
The town of Estes Park is outside of Rocky Mountain National Park.
The elk or wapiti (Cervus canadensis) is one of the largest species within the deer family, Cervidae, in the world, and one of the largest terrestrial mammals in North America and Northeast Asia. This animal should not be confused with the still larger moose (Alces alces) to which the name "elk" applies in British English and in reference to populations in Eurasia.
Elk range in forest and forest-edge habitat, feeding on grasses, plants, leaves, and bark. Male elk have large antlers which are shed each year. Males also engage in ritualized mating behaviors during the rut, including posturing, antler wrestling (sparring), and bugling, a loud series of vocalizations that establishes dominance over other males and attracts females.
Featured in ""The Niche" group (11/19/2018); "Our 4-Legged Friends" group (12/02/2018); "10 Plus" group (01/22/2023); "All COLORADO" group (01/23/2023)
Uploaded
November 10th, 2018
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Viewed 2,465 Times - Last Visitor from New York, NY on 04/23/2024 at 3:18 AM
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Comments (12)
Lorraine Baum
Congratulations Catherine - Your wonderful image has been Featured in the All COLORADO group. Please add it to the 2022 Featured Archives group discussion. L/F
Emmy Vickers
Awesome moment and capture Catherine. What a beauty this bull elk is. Love those horns. l/fave
Yuri Lev
This is an amazing capture Catherine. I'm guessing, from the looks of the image, that you DID NOT use a telephoto lens :-)). F/L
Catherine Sherman replied:
This bull elk was hanging out in front of my condo. He and his buddies seemed very relaxed, enjoying the grass in the lawn, both as a meal and a place to rest. My lens was a 28.0-300.0 mm with a f/3.5 -5.6. This photo was taken at 135 mm focal length.
Ruth Housley
Beautiful elk photo Catherine but you don't see them resting much like that do you?
Catherine Sherman replied:
Thank you very much, Ruth. I hadn't seen elk resting very much, but on this visit to Estes Park, Colorado, a small herd of bull elk chose our neighborhood to hang out and relax.
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