Small bands of males can be found nearby. These herds consist of females, calves, yearlings, and, occasionally, a mature male. Once August rolls around, bands of elk congregate and form herds. By July, the calves begin to feed on succulent forbs, although they continue to nurse. As the summer months begin, bands of Elk move above the tree line and feed on alpine slopes, where breezes keep biting insects away and young plants are especially nutritious. A single female will often “babysit” all of the calves while the remaining new mothers seek food. A few days after giving birth, the mother joins other females, which are also known as cows, that also have new calves. Calves are born with protective coloration, which are light spotted areas on their backsthat serve as a sort of camouflage. The calves are usually born under the cover of dense spruce forests, where they are protected from the elements and hidden from predators. Roosevelt Elk calves are born in late May or early June when there generally is enough food available for the mother to eat, and the weather is warm enough for the calves to survive. This means that hundreds of small organisms, including decomposers and scavengers, can share in the meal, giving them much needed food. Furthermore, because Elk are very large animals, their predators most likely won’t be able to consume every last part of them. With that being said, however, if there aren’t enough Roosevelt Elk available, their natural predators, primarily Cougars and Black Bears, may not have enough to eat. Because of this, the size of Elk herds has to be kept from growing too large in relation to the available food supply. Unfortunately, the amount of food that Roosevelt Elk have to consume can lead to the species becoming its own worst enemy as large herds can damage their food supply by stripping too much material from their staple food plant and trampling over them. By late fall, they become browsers, feeding on shrub and tree beaches as well as sprouts. From late spring to early fall, Elk mostly graze for food, eating grasses, ferns, and other leafy vegetation. They have to eat large amounts of food to support their herding tendencies and large body size. Additionally, members of both sexes have upper canine teeth. The “velvet” is scraped off by jousting and rubbing once the antlers harden in the fall. While their antlers grow each spring, they are covered with what the State of Alaska describes as “velvet”. The antlers sweep up above their heads and upper backs with their spikes pointing forward. They sport them in the summer and fall months, shedding them in the winter. The males, also known as bulls, grow new antlers each year. While Roosevelt Elk share many similarities with the Blacktail Deer that most of us are familiar with, there are some differences. Today, your best chance of spotting Roosevelt Elk here in Western Washington is to visit Olympic National Park. However, as more Europeans settled in the Pacific Northwest in the 1890s and early 1900s, the population of Roosevelt Elk declined significantly as they began to be hunted more frequently. Their range used to run from Northern California to Vancouver Island. However, they were renamed Roosevelt Elk in 1909 when President Theodore (Teddy) Roosevelt redesignated part of what was then known as the Olympic Forest Reserve (now known as the Olympic National Forest) as Mount Olympus National Monument (now known as Olympic National Park) in an effort to preserve some of their native habitat. Roosevelt Elk are members of the Deer Family. They have pale brown bodies and dark brown heads, with stubby tails and a large white rump. The Roosevelt Elk is one of the most magnificent creatures that Washington State has to offer! Roosevelt Elk (scientific name: Cervus elaphus roosevelti) are the largest species of Elk in North America, weighing anywhere from 600 to 1,100 pounds (272 to 500 kilograms).
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