[JOAN CARTAN-HANSEN] Longer days, warmer temperatures and melting snow all signal the start of spring movement for many elk in the rocky mountain region. They'll follow the melting snow to find newly exposed fresh vegetation. This movement called migration will lead the elk up to the mountains to their summer habitat. Migration could take only a few days or it may go on for several months. After a lean winter when food is scarce the elk have used up valuable body fat to survive but it won't be long before they plump up again. During the summer elk will eat as much as 15 pounds of grasses and plants every day - enough to quickly regain their fat.

Sometime between January and March most male elk called bulls shed their antlers. Immediately they begin to grow a new set. This is one of the main differences between antlered animals like elk and deer and animals with horns like big horn sheep and mountain goats.

Horns continue to grow for the entire lifetime of the animal and never drop off while antlers are shed and re-grow every year. In early summer the female elk called cows are ready to give birth to their babies called calves. The cows separate themselves from the herd and hide in the trees or shrubs. The places where cows give birth are called calving grounds. A newborn calf weighs between 20 and 45 pounds. Its wobbly legs make it an easy target for predators so the cow tries to hide the calf in the dense underbrush. She'll only go near her baby a few times a day to avoid leading predators to the hiding place. This lasts for about two or three weeks until the calf is strong enough to outrun most predators. By July cows and their new calves join the rest of the herd.

{BUGLING BULL ELK}

Fall brings in the breeding season also known as the rut. The bulls begin to bugle and the sounds they make are among the more haunting and beautiful sounds in nature. The bugles advertise their presence and fitness to both females and other males. Bulls also bugle to announce or accept a challenge from another male. These two bulls are fighting over a group or harem of cows hiding in the surrounding forest. The rivals face each other 3 or 4 yards apart. They pose and bugle then suddenly one bull drops his head and moves on his opponent. The bulls engage in battle and a rapid and serious contest of strength follows. During the battle each bull tries to protect itself from being gored. The battle will end when one bull loses his balance or gives up and turns around as the winner chases him away.

In the winter the elk stand out as dark spots against a snowy white hillside motionless in the bitter cold. You may feel sorry for them and imagine yourself in their place but your body isn't made to endure the severe winter without protection. Your skin doesn't collect and contain heat like the thickened and insulated coats of elk. Your feet aren't constructed with hooves - natural buffers against the ice and your body doesn't work in the same way, deliberately slowing its metabolic rate to conserve energy. Remember, starvation is one of nature's laws but a difficult one for us to accept. Some people feel we should help elk by setting up winter feeding areas but in those efforts to help we may do more damage than good.

Artificially gathering large numbers of wild animals in a small area can be an invitation for disease. If one animal is sick it can quickly pass to the many other animals in a group. That's why biologists recommend winter feeding only in emergency situations - a time when a winter is so severe that an unusually large number of animals will die unless humans step in to help.

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