Article Contributed on: 9/18/2008 1:04:41 PM
The days are getting shorter, the nights are cooling off. Autumn is on its way. In the mountains, elk, or wapiti, are coming down from the high country to mountain meadows and parks for "rut" or mating season. For the next month or so, you can see herds of them grazing in the open areas or lounging under trees chewing their cuds. At dusk and dawn, you can hear their rising, whistle-like "bugles".Wapiti are some of the biggest deer in North America. They stand 4 to 5 feet tall at the shoulder. Both sexes sport a coat of tan, with a shawl of darker hair around their neck and shoulders. The easiest way to tell them apart is that only males have antlers, starting with a single long branch called a "spike" when they are two years old, and getting more impressive each year until the antlers are huge six-point racks.
The males shed their antlers every year around March. In April, bumps appear on the top of the bulls heads as the antlers begin to grow again. The growing antlers are covered with "velvet" or skin, that nourishes them. By August, the velvet has done its job for these huge pieces of bone, and it dies off. As it dies, the velvet itches. The bulls rub their antlers against anything they can find - aspen trees, shrubs, even buildings - to scratch the velvet off.
Wapiti jam parks in the mating season, called "rut". In September, you can hear the wapitis haunting, whistle-like "bugling" at dusk and dawn as they issue a challenge to all comers. Bulls spar with each other for the right to be "harem masters". The two bulls, each of which could weigh half a ton, lock antlers, and try to push each other back in a contest of strength.
Dramatic as the spectacle is, don't approach the wapiti. The bulls brains are focused on defending territory and harems from all intruders. Intruders, in this case, means "Anything that moves besides me and my harem".
During rut, bulls would rather defend their harem than eat. They can lose one fifth of their total weight at this time. If snows come early, they may not have enough fat on them to survive the winter.
The winner, usually the larger bull with the biggest antlers, gets to mate. The loser goes in search of a weaker bull to challenge.
Young males are pushed out of the harem by the age of two. They form loose "bachelor" bands of their own in which they practice pushing each other around, and dream of when they can challenge the big boys.
All this pushing and shoving is just to impress the other guys. To attract the ladies, the bulls scrape a pit in the dirt and urinate in it, then roll around in it to coat themselves with the scent. Cows find this irresistible.
But I wouldn't try it at home.