This guy.
For the last two nights, this lovesick fellow has been just outside our house bugling all night long, seriously disturbing my sleep. So far he's destroyed a small tree on our property, tore out some vines, and damaged the fence by bending a perpendicular metal post into an L=shape, which created a hole for the dogs to escape. (Fortunately we got them rounded up and back in the house before they took off.)
Here in the Rockies, we don't have human vandals, just animal ones. Break-ins are usually from bears, not humans. And noise doesn't generally come from revelers (although tourists can be a bother). This time of year, it's from bull elk.
Photo of bull elk (not the one on our property) courtesy of Unsplash and copyright free
We're in the middle of the rut, when the bulls are jacked up on testosterone and ready to compete for the favors of fair lady elk. Bull elk fight to steal or maintain a harem for breeding rights. They go into an unbelievable state of lust and aggression during the rut. peeing on themselves or in the dirt, then rolling in it so they become one big ball of stink. They paw the ground; they dig holes with their hooves; they joust with inanimate objects if there are no other male elk around to compete with. Given the size of 'our' bull in the photo up top, I'm surprised he doesn't already have a harem of cows. He may have recently come down from the high country and gotten into the game late; I don't know.
Bulls stand five feet at the shoulder and can weigh up to 1,000 lbs./454 kg. They're rigorous about commanding their harems. A few years back, a bull ran a wayward cow into our front porch and window, nearly smashing the window and shaking the entire house. Together the two of them still managed to destroy a wooden bench and break a large ceramic planter pot in the melee.
If you've never heard an elk bugle, here's a short clip. Normally bull elk joust by pushing each other in displays of force (generally without injury) until the loser becomes exhausted and quits. Still, bull elk sharpen their tines and those points can be deadly. I know of instances where one bull caught an opponent in the eye or head with a tine and killed it.
'Our' elk in the photo up top was so exhausted after bugling all night that he lay down in the grass just outside my office. He's been dozing on and off all morning. Hope he finds a harem pretty soon. I'm looking forward to better sleep.
Photo of bull elk by Lisa Hutchins
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