Raising Nature Lovers: bull

Tuesday, December 29, 2009

As Promised... Fred & Friend!

After spending 2 days with Fred (Bull #36) and his new buddy, I am curious as to how long the two have been "hanging out" together. Has anybody else seen them in town like this? They were nearly inseparable except when Fred was napping, which he did much more of than the other bull. That's when the younger of the two would roam the town himself feeding, relaxing, and posing for us but he never strayed too far from his sleeping elder. I know Fred spent the summer with a spike nearby but I did not see tat one around this trip.

As I previously stated, Fred does seem to be experiencing some difficulty with mobility due to the cold temperatures. When he would first get up, walking looked painful, but once he got moving he seemed to loosen up a bit. He did travel all across town on both days and did not stay secluded to one small area which is what many animals will do when they are not faring well, so this is a good sign.

If anybody recognizes the other bull, please let me know! I am terrible with recognizing and remembering names since they often get other nicknames as well. Thank you!

Saturday, October 31, 2009

Intimate encounter

A last-minute trip to Benezette gave us exactly 1 hour of daylight to see as many elk as we could, and once again we were not disappointed! We made it to a couple of our favorite viewing areas and found a few herds in the distance.

While there, we met a couple that seemed very nice as we watched a cow and her small calf roaming in the valley. We lent them our binoculars and told them where they could see a couple herds around the area. Josephine was amazed by the "baby elk" and kept asking for the "nocolars" to see it. As our conversation with the couple went on, the man informs us he was selected for the hunt and that they were there scouting areas for next week because since he only got a cow tag he wasn't willing to pay for a guide... he'd only pay for a bull!

I couldn't believe he was telling us as we are snapping pictures that he was there scouting the very same elk we were admiring! Oh the irony! Then to top it off, when he said "I just don't know where to go." and I replied "Well there are different zones and you will be assigned to one." he tells me that Benezette IS his zone. UGH!!! I completely understand the concept of population control, but I'm kind of attached to those elk and this guy was a complete buzz kill!

Luckily on our way out a nice bull decided to cheer me up by relaxing just a few yards off of the road. It was a very intimate moment with the sun going down and him trying to get comfortable to sleep. Anthony positioned the car just right so I could try to get a couple pictures and that was it. After looking, I now notice that he seems to have a cut above his right eye, possibly a battle-wound from the rut? All in all an amazing hour but very few photo-ops and a little bit of frustration but totally worth the 5-hour round-trip!