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Fast Facts� Elk calves weigh an average of 35 pounds at birth.� Elk are members of the deer family. In North

America, moose are the largest members of the deer family, followed by elk, then caribou, then deer.

� A set of antlers can weigh up to 40 pounds.� Elk have antlers, not horns. Antlers are shed and

regrown every year. Horns grow throughout the life of the animal. Bighorn sheep, bison and mountain goats have horns. Antlers are made of bone. Horns are made of keratin (the same thing your fingernails are made of).

� Elk replace all of their hair twice a year—once in the spring and once in the fall.

� Elk are gregarious (herd-forming) animals. Herds offer more security because there are so many eyes, ears and noses checking for danger.

� There were an estimated 10 million elk throughout North America before Europeans arrived. By 1907, there were less than 100,000. Today, about 1 million wild elk roam in 26 states and five candian provinces.

� The scientific name for elk is Cervus elaphus.� Elk in North America are called wapiti, a

Shawnee Indian word meaning “white rump.”� Elk calves are born in late May or early June.� Rocky Mountain elk have the largest antlers

of the four subspecies, but the Roosevelt’s elk have the largest body size. The Tule elk is the smallest subspecies.

� Elk have four-chambered stomachs and chew their cud.

� Predators of elk are: mountain lions, grizzly bears, black bears, wolves, coyotes and humans.

Written by Jennifer McConnellIllustrations by Cynthie Fisher

The mission of the Rocky Mountain

Elk Foundation is to ensure the future

of elk, other wildlife and their habitat.

Our Vision—We envision a future

where elk roam in wild places

across our continent, challenging

and inspiring generations of hunters

and other conservationists to preserve

that legacy and pass it on to those

who follow.

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A n elk with tusks? It's true. Many thousands of years ago, elk

actually grew tusks like elephants do. Today a few kinds of deer, like the muntjac in China, still have sharp tusks. But over time, bull elk sprouted larger antlers to show off their strength, so they didn't need tusks

anymore. The tusks gradually shrank to

become the only two teeth in the front of the elk's upper jaw. We call these smooth, round teeth ivories, tusks,

buglers, canines or whistlers.

E lk have four toes. The two outer

toes on the backs of their legs are called dew claws, which elk don't use for much more than extra balance and grip. They walk on the middle two toes which form the hoof, covered by a tough, thick toenail. By staying up on their tiptoes, elk can reach speeds up to 35 miles per hour.

hat's an adaptation? It's a big word describing characteristics or features of an animal or plant that help it survive. Many adaptations are designed to help protect an animal from predators. How about a couple of examples to better explain . . .

Have you ever heard of geckos and skinks? They're two kinds of lizards that use a funny trick to escape from predators. If a predator grabs one of these lizards by the tail, the tail breaks off. The shed tail keeps wiggling to keep the predator busy, while the lizard scurries away. In time, the broken tail will grow back to protect the lizard from the next hungry predator that comes along. For an adaptation that's easier to see, take a look at the giant stick insect above. With its long, tan-colored body, it looks just like a twig or tree branch. That coloring and shape help the stick insect blend right in with the trees and bushes where it lives — an adaptation called camouflage. Because the giant stick insect is quite large, it depends on this adaptation to avoid getting spotted and eaten. Read on to learn about all the adaptations an elk has.

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T hose skinny legs don't look very powerful, but they'll

pull a big-bodied elk up a steep hill with no problem. With long, lean muscles, an elk's legs are perfectly designed to run swiftly in long, graceful strides.

W ith eyes placed on the sides of their heads, elk can see in almost every direction —

except right behind them. That's a great advantage when

you have to worry about predators sneaking up on you. Predators — on the other hand — have eyes centered on the front of the face. Although elk can't see colors like we do, they can detect the slightest movement easily.

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B elieve it or not, an elk's stomach protects it from predators. Because an elk eats lots of grasses and bushes, its stomach needs four

“chambers” to grind up that tough food. The first chamber (#1 in the picture) is a big holding tank. An elk eats lots in a short time, filling up its tank, then slips off to hide where it can relax, chew its cud, and let the next three chambers help digest all that nutritious food.

T hose large, dish-shaped ears catch lots of

sound. You'd get the same effect if you cupped your hands behind your ears. An elk's good hearing gets even better because it can rotate its ears to pick up noises from different directions.

S trrretch! That long neck helps an elk reach to the ground

for scrumptious grasses and up high for tasty leaves. It also allows the elk to lift its head high to spot predators.

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Twice a year elk shed every hair on their bodies. But you've never seen a bald elk, have

you? That's because they lose their old coat and grow a new one at the same time. In the hot summer, elk keep cool with just one layer of hair. But as snow starts to fall, elk need a warmer covering to survive. So in winter elk grow two layers of hair — a warm woolly layer against their bodies with longer guard hair outside to keep them dry. The thick winter coat really stands out when you look at the fluffy mane around an elk's neck.

Y ou've probably noticed that when you wear dark clothes, you stay warmer in the sunshine. That's because dark colors absorb

heat. Elk also depend on color to warm up or cool off. Elk living in open, hot California valleys are very light in color. They've got all the warmth they need, so their light tan coats reflect some of the extra heat. Elk living in dense, dark forests have deep brown hair to soak up heat from the small amount of sunshine that breaks through the trees. The darker hair also helps them blend in and hide in their shadowy habitat.

D o your parents scold you when you crack your knuckles? If you were an elk, you'd crack your knuckles all the

time and never get in trouble for it. Elk make slight cracking noises when they walk. Those noises help them keep in touch with each other, especially when the herd spreads out

in thick brush. When elk hear knuckle-cracking, they know it's another elk

nearby and not a predator lurking around.

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magine the gooiest, melt-in-your-mouth chocolate chip cookie. You've been craving it all day and your mouth waters just thinking about it. You race home at the end of the day,

and head straight for the kitchen, in search of that tasty treat. You lift the lid on the cookie jar, reach down in and . . . What?! Nothing but crumbs! What do you do? Get MAD! Your face gets red . . . you slam the lid back down on the jar. . . you stomp off in search of the culprit who stole your cookie. These are some of the ways people tell each other they're mad. We use our voices, our expressions and our actions to show how we feel. But what does a wild animal do? Just because animals can't talk like people doesn't mean that they don't communicate. Birds, bugs, big animals and small, all talk to each other in their own ways. Skunks raise their fluffy tails to warn, “Back Off!” when they get ready to spray their smelly musk. To impress female hummingbirds, the males fly fancy dances through the sky, then the two birds play a fast-paced game of chase. Although it might not seem hostile to us, a bear that walks straight towards another bear while staring is not in a friendly mood.

Elk communicate too — in lots of ways. Since they usually live together in large groups, elk must communicate with each other more than many other animals do. If you have a big family, you know how important it is that you all talk to each other regularly in order to get along. The same goes for elk herds. Communication helps elk learn how to live peacefully together and teaches them how to survive in their habitat. By “talking” to each other, elk know who gets the best “cookie” — that is, the tastiest and most nutritious food. They communicate to let each other know who's the boss and who eats and sleeps where. They also communicate to warn each other of danger. Just how do elk “talk” to each other? Turn the page and find out!

ElkTalk

ElkTalk

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Body LanguageBody Language If you've ever ridden a horse or a mule, you know to watch out when they lay their ears back — it's the animal's way of telling you, “I'm not in a good mood!” Elk use body language to communicate, too. The pictures and silhouettes on these pages show how you can guess an elk's mood by its movements and body position.

When an elk looks like this, stay out of its way — or else! With its ears laid back, nostrils flared and head high, a threatening elk stands ready to raise up on its back legs. If it gets mad enough, the elk will flail its front legs, using its hooves as weapons. Cows, calves and bulls without antlers threaten each other this way when they compete for food. Elk also threaten by laying their ears back, curling back the upper lip, grinding their teeth and hissing softly. This means the elk wants to bite, and probably comes from a time when elk actually fought with tusk-like upper teeth. Today those teeth — called ivories — have shrunk and aren't needed for fighting.

What takes less energy — bickering with your sisters and brothers or backing down and settling things peacefully? Why, keeping the peace of course. Elk know that, too. For them, fighting takes away valuable time spent fattening up. So rather than fight, some elk just back off. An elk avoids a fight by lowering its head and neck, stretching out its nose, dropping its ears and crouching down. Sometimes, while moving away, a submissive elk makes a rapid chewing motion with its jaws. You'll also see cows acting submissive during the rut, or mating season, as the bulls chase them around trying to win them over.

1. Threatening

2. Submissive

Steve Nourse

Gary R. Zahm

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In order to survive, elk must stay alert to any unusual sounds, smells or sights. If something out of the ordinary happens, an alarmed elk raises its head, stands up straight and tall, and cocks its ears forward. To figure out exactly where strange sounds may be coming from, an elk might rotate its ears around to listen in different directions. With its eyes open wide, an alarmed elk moves stiffly, always ready to take off in a flash. Sometimes elk will “bark” sharply when they get nervous, to warn other elk that haven't sensed the danger yet. In the late springtime, cow elk also use alarm postures and barks to tell their newborn calves to dive for cover.

It's September — the rut or mating season has begun. A harem or group of cows feeds quietly. One cow strays, looking for the tastiest grass. As she gets farther from the group, she notices a shadow chasing after her. The harem-guarding bull doesn't want any cows leaving his group and getting stolen by a rival bull. He stretches his neck out low, tips up his nose, and tilts his antlers back, circling toward the cow. Even though he doesn't look straight at her, he opens his eyes wide. He yelps a few times. If he's feeling really ornery, the bull may even bugle. The cow recognizes the “herding” message and quickly returns to the group. She knows the bull means business, and, if she doesn't head back, he may rush at her, bob his antlers at her, and even try to prod her with his tines.

3. Alarmed

4. Herding

Lawrence Clark

Dusan Smetana

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SpringArrivalsSpring

Arrivals inter's icy grip loosens on the evergreen hillsides, letting

spring creep gradually up the mountains. It's been a long, cold season, but now the air is warming, the snow is melting and the forest comes alive with rushing streams, budding plants and young animals. In a dewy mountain meadow, several cow elk nibble on new shoots of

bunchgrass. Slowly a cow with a low, swollen belly ambles away from the rest of the herd. She travels below the snowline, from one meadow to the next, looking for the perfect spot to have her calf. Settling on a tiny meadow bordered by an icy brook, the cow gives birth all alone. Minutes later, her spotted, weak-kneed calf wobbles over to a rotting collapsed tree. As her calf settles into the soft ground, the cow gently licks the newborn clean. She doesn't linger long, knowing her presence can give away the tiny calf. Left alone to hide, the calf snuggles tightly against the log, flattening its nose to the moist soil. Its muscles stiff and body rigid, the newborn calf awaits its mother's next visit. The old lone coyote paces — scouring back and forth across the meadow. After winter's scant

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pickings, the promise of spring and warmer weather

has stirred his appetite. In search of an easy meal, the

coyote thinks he's getting closer to finding some dinner.

A nervous cry echoes out of the bushes, then the crunch and snap of leaves and twigs underfoot. The spindly-legged elk calf springs out of the sagebrush, struggling to keep one step ahead of the old gray coyote. Suddenly the songdog skids to a halt — face to face with mother elk. As the calf darts under a mossy log, the cow elk stands her ground. That single coyote won't challenge a full-grown cow. The discouraged predator pauses for a few seconds, finally turning his head and trotting away. The calf escapes danger for now, but the mother elk must move it to a safer spot. Even with a new hiding place, there will be more dangers for the young elk in the coming weeks. For the next few days the calf does little but hide. It leaves the decision of when it's time for dinner up to its mother. Hunger spurs the calf to move, but the instinct to hide is stronger.

Eventually the cow emerges from the treeline across the meadow, sniffs the breeze and strolls over to her calf. The calf suckles eagerly, trying to fill its stomach in the short seconds its mother stays. The calf's not satisfied but mother elk worries more about revealing her calf's location than filling its belly, so she wanders away, leaving her calf to wait another few hours. After a cool spring night, rays from the early morning sun peek under the log to warm the calf's spotted back. The calf shifts its eyes to follow a golden butterfly as it bounces from the young elk's tail to a nearby flower in search of nectar. Day by day, the calf grows stronger, until it's time to join the herd. Cows and calves start to gather, helping to watch out for each other. A few cows take turns babysitting a group of several calves. As hikers chatter nearby, the unusual sound spooks the herd. The month-old calves follow their babysitter's lead to escape these strange voices. All the calves will find their mothers again once the danger has disappeared. While the summer days get shorter, the calf keeps busy nursing and munching on

tender grasses. It must get good and fat before winter sets in. Otherwise, the calf may not have the strength to fight off the cold or paw through heavy snows to find food. Nature can be hard on young elk, but it also helps prepare them for life in a world full of challenges. We can help, too. If we work together to protect habitat — especially winter range and calving areas — elk calves will get a much better start on life.

The Hider Strategy Because elk calves can't run very fast or far right after they are born, they must hide for a couple of weeks. This method of avoiding predators is called the “hider strategy.” Elk are about the biggest animals that use the hider strategy. It is also used by mule deer, white-tailed deer and pronghorn antelope. One part of the hider strategy is camouflage. Elk calves have spots to help them blend into their environment and they have very little scent that would attract predators. They remain as still and silent as they can. The mother elk helps keep her calf hidden by visiting it as little as possible — nursing it only four to six times each day. She cleans up all the birth materials and the calf's waste that might also give away her calf's location. If the calf feels danger getting a little too close, it may bleat for its mother. At an average of about 500 pounds, a cow can defend her young against small predators like coyotes. When larger predators, like bears, mountain lions and wolves, come sniffing around, the cow will try to lead the predators away from her calf.

Michael H. Francis Chris W. Mortensen

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Calving Grounds The places where cows give birth to their calves are called calving grounds. Good calving grounds usually lie somewhere between the lower country where elk winter and the high mountains where they spend the summer. When cows pick

spots to give birth, they look for several things. Cows need plenty of food and water nearby and their newborn calves need

good hiding cover. Fallen trees, shrubs like sagebrush, and uneven, rocky terrain all make good hiding places for elk calves. Elk often

find all these requirements where forests bump up against meadows — an area called an “ecotone.”

The Nursery Herd After a few solitary weeks, the calves and their mothers begin to group together in herds. By this time the young elk have gotten stronger and have a better chance at outrunning predators. Forming a herd also helps protect growing calves from predators. More elk equals more eyes to watch for danger and lets calves focus on nursing or finding the most nutritious

forage, which they must do to fatten up before winter. Often a bunch of calves stick together in a nursery herd and follow a

single cow. That cow acts like a babysitter, keeping her eyes and ears alert for danger. Different cows take turns babysitting so they all get a chance to eat. If a

predator shows up, the babysitter will lead all the calves away in a group. That way they don't scramble around confused looking for their mothers. Once the danger disappears, the herd settles down and the mothers will sniff out their calves.

Ron & Janet McBride Michael H. Francis

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I t's food, it's water, it's shelter, it's space! All those things make up habitat — something no creature can live without. If we want to see beautiful

animals like elk wandering around, we need to make sure they have plenty of habitat. At one time, more than 10 million elk roamed North America. By the late 1800s, there were less than 100,000 of them left. Thanks to conservationists —

people who care about wildlife and the land — today elk number about 1 million. But all across elk country, habitat is disappearing as people build new homes, roads and shopping centers. We can help protect the future of elk and other wildlife by protecting their habitat. Plus, when we protect habitat, it also gives people like us more places to roam, hike, hunt, fish, play, camp and explore!

AntlerBugleBullCalfConservationCow

ElkHabitatHairHerdIvoriesMigration

RutVelvetWallowWapiti

is where it’s at!

photo by Hugh Hogle

Find and circle these “elk” wordsin the puzzle to the right.

C O N S E R V A T I O N

O P H A I R Q M O M V C

W V A N D H L L I A E R

A I B U G L E G H K L E

P T I U O W R R B K V L

I B T F L A C A D H E T

T U A E T L T O V A T N

I R T I R L U S D F L A

L K O I V O R I E S O R

E N D W A W U C L E V T

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Freezing winds and deep snow make winter tough for elk. As the snow piles up, elk move to lower valleys and foothills where they find less snow and more food.

Some of the best places are south-facing slopes that get the most warm sunshine and wind-blown ridges where gusts sweep away the snow.

Elk also need thermal cover for warmth and escape cover to stay safe from predators in the winter. Thick timber provides both.

Tree branches hold warm air underneath while the cold wind blows across the open hillsides. And the trees also help the elk stay hidden in the shadows when bears, mountain lions and other predators come around.

As long as the snow sticks to the ground, elk must forage for grass and browse and hope the fat stored up over the summer will carry them through to spring. If they use too much energy running away from people or their dogs, they might not survive until new grasses sprout in spring.

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reak out the wool mittens, fuzzy earmuffs and clompy snowboots. Chop up the firewood and turn up the heat. Winter's coming!

Many people just love winter — for the skiing, sledding, ice skating or just cozying up by a crackling fire with a good book. People don't have much to worry about during winter, except for slippery, icy roads on the way to the grocery store. But wildlife can't go shop at the local grocery store when snow buries their favorite foods. And they can't escape to a warm living room when bitter winds start them to shivering. Luckily, nature makes sure all creatures have some special adaptations to help them survive winter's harsh weather and bleak times.Windbreakers

The Big Sleep When the sky blackens with snow clouds and icy winds chill your bones, do you ever want to curl up in a fuzzy blanket and just sleep until spring? Well, that's exactly what some animals do to survive the winter. Animals like marmots and ground squirrels spend all summer fattening up to prepare for their big sleep. As winter blows in, they retreat to their dens to “hibernate.” These “true hibernators” fall into a very deep sleep. Their body temperatures drop to 36 degrees Fahrenheit — just 4 degrees above freezing! Everything in their bodies slows down. They take just one breath every five minutes and their hearts beat only five times a minute. These critters snooze away until spring, never even cracking open an eye.

B

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The Not-So-Big Sleep When you say “hibernate,” most people think of bears. But bears don't quite fit that description. In the fall, bears prepare a cozy den in a cave, under the roots of a large tree, within big rock piles or in any convenient hole in the ground. As the snow piles up, usually about November, the bear crawls in its den for its wintertime snooze. After spending the entire summer and fall eating, bears have a thick layer of fat to nourish them all winter. The bear falls asleep, but not quite as deeply as true hibernators. Every once in a while, the bear might actually awaken groggily. A bear's body temperature only drops 8-10 degrees during its winter sleep and its heartbeat slows down just a little. By about April or May all the sleeping bears lazily wake up and crawl out of their dens — hungry!

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Just Fly Away First you hear the honking . . . getting louder and louder . . . you look up and suddenly — giant letters, flying through the sky! Actually the only letter you'll see is a “V.” That's the shape some birds, like geese, use to help them in their long travels. As the northern days get shorter, birds know that soon all the good food will disappear with the first freeze. So they start a long migration south to spots with warmer air and plentiful food. Many will fly thousands of miles to places like Mexico and South America for the winter. With their strong wings and light,

hollow bones, nature has designed birds to travel

farther and wider than any other animal. So why fly in a “V”? The V shape makes the flock more

aerodynamic — so that the birds flying

behind use less energy to cut through the wind. To keep from wearing out the bird at the front, every so often a new lead bird will take over at the point of the V. The arctic tern probably holds the distance record for migration. Some terns fly 11,000 miles from far northern North America all the way to Antarctica.

On The Road Again As soon as the snow piles about knee-deep, elk hit the trail. They trade in their high-country summer habitat for the warmer valleys. This migration usually takes place in the late fall. Many elk herds follow the same migration routes that elk have followed for years and years. These routes take them to sheltered valleys, to south-facing slopes where the sun melts the snow away, or to open ridges where the wind sweeps off the snow. Wherever they migrate, elk usually end up bunched together in the wintertime. That's because they have much less winter habitat than summer habitat to choose from. Since they're often out in the open in winter, they share body heat to keep each other warm — and banding together helps protect them from predators. These big groups of wintering elk often don't include older bulls. The bulls would rather hang out higher in the mountains by themselves for as long as the weather will let them.

Bark 'n' Needles Down in the valleys, elk look for the best food they can find. Sometimes winter leaves good grasses just under the snow's surface where they can paw through to get it. But, even in the valleys, snow can get deep. Then an elk's menu changes — to shrubs and bushes that stick up above the snow. They might also eat tree bark and pine needles.It's important that elk eat as much as possible during the winter, because eating lots helps keep them warm. Although most elk lose weight during the winter, if they drop more than about 25 percent of their total weight, they may not survive. For an average 600-pound bull, that means losing no more than about 90 pounds.

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Winter Wardrobe How cold is too cold for you? Fifty degrees? Thirty

degrees? Ten below zero? Believe it or not, elk don't really start to feel cold until

the temperature drops below zero. How come? Well, mainly because elk put on a heavy winter coat—but not like you and I do. An elk grows its own winter coat—two warm layers of hair that are five times warmer than its

summer coat. If that coat is doing its job holding an elk's

body heat in, the snow won't even melt off an elk's back.

WindbreakersCold air alone isn't usually what makes

winter hard for elk. It's the frigid wind that can sap all their energy. When the weath-

er really gets bad, elk retreat to places where the trees grow thick. This helps

shelter them from the wind and keep them from losing too much body heat to the open air — kind of like when people

put on windbreakers.Once in the trees, elk will lie down with

their legs curled beneath them. This helps stop heat from escaping from underneath

their bodies. If there aren't many trees around, elk just use each other as

windbreakers. They lay down in bunches close together to keep each other warm.

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Open Spaces Wild Places

You can help conserve habitat for elk, other wildlife, and people who love wild country

Join the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation

Sprawling towns, subdivisions and shopping malls. Slowly they are changing America's wild landscapes into cities littered with concrete, telephone poles and noisy highways. Every day, open spaces are chipped into smaller and smaller pieces. And it's not going to stop.

Some people predict that by the year 2020, another 24 million acres — one-tenth of all the ranchland left in the Rocky Mountain region-will be converted to other uses.

Where will elk and other wildlife live?

The Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation's special mapping technology shows us where habitat is most threatened. In those areas, we work with farmers, ranchers, foresters and other landowners, helping

them protect and enhance the land to make sure that elk and other wildlife always have a place to live.

These lands also serve as habitat for people who like to explore, hike, hunt, fish, camp or just enjoy open spaces.

Please support the Elk Foundation, and help us ensure the future of these wild places.

To learn more, visit www.rmef.org or call 800-CALL ELK!

510-0409-001