Photo of the Day Contest, “An Elk in a Snowstorm”

To participate and share your images,  please join Bush Warriors Photo of the Day Contest group on Facebook, which you can access by clicking here (http://www.facebook.com/groups/bushwarriorsphotooftheday/)

An Elk in a Snowstorm

Photo Credit: Lori Huff

Rocky Mountain National Park

Colorado, USA

Elk, also called wapiti, are related to deer, but are much larger than most of them.  A bull (male) elk’s antlers may reach 4 feet (1.2 meters) above its head, making that animal 9 feet (2.7 meters) tall!  Bull elk lose their antlers each March, but they begin to grow them back in May in preparation for the late-summer breeding season.  In early summer, elk migrate to high mountain grazing grounds where the cows (females) will give birth.  During the late summer breeding season, the banging of bull elk antlers echoes through the mountains. These powerful animals use their mighty horns in violent clashes that determine who gets to mate with whom.  Males with the bigger antlers, typically older animals, usually win these battles and dominate small herds.  Finally, in the winter, they join into larger hers.  The herds then return to lower valley pastures where elk spend the season pawing through snow to find what little food remains.  Often times, when the weather gets very cold, they will simply sit down and let the snow storm pass, conserving precious energy (pictured here).

 

To share your wildlife photos with the Bush Warriors community, go to our Photo of the Day Contest Facebook page and upload your shots today!  All you need to do is upload them onto the wall.  Please do not create new albums, but rather upload each photo on its own.  Click here to view ALL of our Photo of the Day winners and for more information on the Bush Warriors Photo of the Day Contest.  Enjoy the beauty of nature, just as it was intended to be! 

 

The Bush Warriors Photo of The Day Contest is brought to you in partnership with Creative Visions Foundation.  Inspired by the life of Dan Eldon, a young Reuters photojournalist killed in Somalia in 1993, Creative Visions Foundation supports “Creative Activists” who use media and the arts to create positive change in the world.

Vote for your favorite photo each week.  The Bush Warriors Photo of The Week winner will go on to compete for the Bush Warriors Photo of the Monthand a chance to win a signed copy of Dan Eldon: Safari As a Way of Life of life.  

 

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