BABY ELK

I've been seeing the newborn Elk around the park while at work, but never had the opportunity to take any pictures. Just a few minutes ago, while looking at new emails, I spotted this mom and baby passing by the motor home. By the time I got the front door open, they were walking away, so the images aren't the greatest, but at least you can see the size difference. These babies are pretty big when they're born, and just like deer fawns, they have white spots all over their torsos.

According to the Mountain Lion experts, the young Elk are at the top of the cat's menu choices. Maybe that's why there are so many Elk here in the village. With the aid of GPS collars, the Park Service knows that the big cats stay away from people, and are rarely tracked anywhere near the village. I guess mother nature has a way of helping & hindering at the same time.

The Elk and Deer are all over the place, and present a considerable driving hazard. I've had a couple of close calls in the bus, but fortunately no contact. A couple of nights ago, one of our buses hit an Elk Cow, taking out the windshield, and doing quite a bit of damage to the front end. Unfortunately, the Elk's outcome was much worse.

The herd here in the village seems to consist of a group of females, and two large males that are always together. The mating season, or rut, is in the fall, but we'll probably be gone by then. I remember quite a few years ago, we were in Jasper, Alberta at an RV park during the Elk mating season. What I took away from watching the one Bull Elk near our motor home, was that you definitely want to keep your distance. When the big males are trying to keep their harems together, they're not very friendly, and are dangerous to people who get too close.

Patty starts her two days off today, and this is my Tuesday. The temperatures are creeping up into the 80's, and we're starting to run the air conditioner during the afternoon. I shouldn't complain, the predicted forecast temperature in Lake Havasu today is.........111-116 degrees!!