- Title: Eerie bugling sounds ring out, during elk mating season in Washington state
- Date: 11th October 2022
- Summary: EATONVILLE, WASHINGTON, UNITED STATES (SEPTEMBER 27, 2022) (REUTERS) (SOUNDBITE)(English) NORTHWEST TREK KEEPER SKYLAR KING, SAYING: “Today we're focusing on the elk rut, the breeding season for our elk. And that's the time of year when there are, males are pursuing the females. And that's where you can see sparring when they lock their antlers together. You can hear the bugling, this kind of high keening call that sounds very eerie. If you didn't know what it was, you would not put it to the animal that it comes from. So we are seeing some of that behavior today. The goal for the males during the breeding season is to be the only boy with all of the females, and to keep all the other males away from the girls. And then the younger boys are hoping to sneak in and maybe get a girlfriend that year. But typically, it's just going to be our oldest boys and they're going to be the ones who are really competing, bugling. The young boys will be practicing some of that, so you'll see young guys locking their antlers and sparring. That's really just practicing for when they're older and actually going to be more competitive for the ladies.†ELK AT LOCKING ANTLERS VARIOUS OF KEEPER SKYLAR KING DRIVING ROOSEVELT BULL ELK CROSSING ROAD AND WALKING INTO HABITAT ROOSEVELT ELK COWS SITTING TOGETHER ROOSEVELT BULL ELK PICKING UP FOLIAGE WITH ANTLERS (SOUNDBITE)(English) NORTHWEST TREK KEEPER SKYLAR KING, SAYING: “So for most of the year, they're all friends. They form what's called a bachelor herd, which are all the adult males when it's not the breeding season, go and hang out together. Now, that changes at the end of the summer, those hormones start changing. That's when the elk shed their velvet off their antler, along with the other antler animals, That velvet falls off. Now they're ready to start sparring, competing, using those antlers to lock in. I would say think of it as arm wrestling, not knife fighting. They're not really meant to stab each other, even though they have these really big, impressive points. They're meant to lock in and wrestle around. And then you'll start to see that, you'll start to see them wallow in the mud, darken their bodies like a spray tan for humans. You'll see them scent mark. They'll flick urine on themselves to make them smell irresistible to the ladies. So, there's a lot of very unique behaviors. We start to see that happen kind of the end of summer, the early fall, and then there's a few weeks a year when you really see them start to lock antlers and to bugle and really see a lot of those rut-related behaviors." ROOSEVELT BULL ELK PATROLLING AREA NEAR GROUP OF COWS YOUNGER ROOSEVELT BULL ELK SITTING AND STANDING AMONG TREES AND POND (SOUNDBITE)(English) NORTHWEST TREK KEEPER SKYLAR KING, SAYING: “I always kind of describe it as a as kind of a keening wail, but there is this hoarse undertone quality and there's different calls they do. There's the bugles, but there's these kind of barks and yelps—there’s fun names for them. Then sometimes they have these are these coarse, kind of rougher, low calls and sometimes they're high chirps. But I don't really know that there is a comparison." ROOSEVELT BULL ELK SPARRING WITH ANTLERS WITH MATING CALL IN THE DISTANCE (SOUNDBITE)(English) NORTHWEST TREK KEEPER SKYLAR KING, SAYING: “So you get to see how, as these animals are going through seasonal changes, the environment itself is changing. You have water, bodies of water there drying up these seasonal wetlands. And then as they're drying up and you get these mud patches, the animals are using those for mud wallows. So it's cool to see, you get much more in tune with the natural cycle of the holistic environment. And you get to see the ducks and the turtles and frogs, all these bonus animals that are out there. So, I feel much more in tune working here at Trek with the general nature cycle, not just, you know, it's not this artificial piece of environment. This is a fully functioning ecosystem. We're keeping out those large carnivores, but a lot of other animals are utilizing the space.â€
- Embargoed: 25th October 2022 10:54
- Keywords: ELK BUGLING NORTHWEST TREK WILDLIFE PARK ROOSEVELT ELK
- Location: EATONVILLE, WASHINGTON, UNITED STATES
- City: EATONVILLE, WASHINGTON, UNITED STATES
- Country: US
- Topics: Environment,Nature/Wildlife,United States
- Reuters ID: LVA002001404102022RP1
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Each year, as the days of summer dwindle and the colors of fall begin to emerge in the Pacific Northwest, an otherworldly sound fills the air in the foothills of Mount Rainier at Northwest Trek Wildlife Park, about an hour from Seattle.
Roosevelt elk, the largest of the four surviving subspecies in North America, have entered their annual rut season— a time when bull elk are vying for female partners and make elaborate sounds to show their dominance over other members of herd.
“For most of the year, they're all friends. They form what's called a bachelor herd, which are all the adult males when it's not the breeding season, go and hang out together," explains Northwest Wildlife Trek keeper Skylar King. "Now that changes at the end of the summer, those hormones start changing."
These large elk can also be found sparring with other members of the herd, exerting their dominance and attempting to find out where they stand during the year's mating period.
"The goal for the males during the breeding season is to be the only boy with all of the females, and to keep all the other males away from the girls." says King, who likens the sparring to an arm wrestling match as opposed to a knife fight. "You'll start to see them wallow in the mud, darken their bodies like a spray tan for humans. They'll flick urine on themselves to make them smell irresistible to the ladies. There's a lot of very unique behaviors."
Even the younger male elk take part in the process. They lock antlers and imitate the behavior of the older bull elk as a form of practice, for when they will actually be competitive during rut season.
King says that elk's rutting season can be witnessed in various parts of North America during early autumn, but it's dependent upon climate and herd subspecies.
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