Information on Elk
The "National Audubon Society Field Guide to Mammals" says that five members of the family Cervidae are native species to North America. The elk is one, in addition to the mule deer, white-tailed deer, caribou and moose. Elk once roamed most of the country but now the range of this creature is much smaller. Elk are grazers and often live part of the year in herds.
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Identification
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The largest bull elks can weigh upward of 1,000 lbs. and the biggest females will weigh around 650 lbs., but the average sizes are much less, with a bull at about 700 lbs. and a cow at 500 lbs. The bull elk can stand 5 feet high at its shoulder and be as long as 8 feet from its nose to its tail. An elk varies in its coloring from deep brown to a lighter shade of tan. The mature males sport antlers that will have six tines on each side and the individual antlers are as long as 5 feet.
Geography
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The historic range of the elk in North America ran from eastern parts of New York State southward to the Deep South as far as southern Georgia. The western boundary of this territory extended to the West Coast, with elk existing in most of western Canada and some of the southeastern sections north of the border. Today elk live in all of the western states and parts of Canada, although their range here is a fraction of its former acreage. Elk live in small populations in states like Tennessee, Kentucky, Michigan and Pennsylvania.
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Function
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The website of the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation says that in the winter months, elk grow a longer thicker coat, with the guard hairs repelling water. This helps keep the elk warm in climates where the temperature can be well below zero. In winter, elk will seek a sunny open area in which to feed and find shelter from the wind and cold in trees. Hot summer weather causes the elk's coat to shed and the animal will go into the water to cool off during stifling heat.
Ruminant
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Biologists categorize elk as ruminants, meaning the mammal possesses a multichambered stomach. Elk subsist on plant matter such as shrubs, grasses, forbs (herbs), twigs, leaves, bark and lichens. The elk initially eats plants and the unchewed vegetation goes to a chamber called the rumen, where bacteria help break it down. The elk regurgitates this food, now called cud, and chews it well before swallowing it again. The cud goes through the rumen into the other chambers where the digestion process takes place and water and nutrients go into the elk's system.
Considerations
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The elk's predators include the mountain lion and the grizzly bear, as well as man. As many as 10 million elk lived on the North American continent before the white man came to its shores. Unfortunately for the elk, its two top teeth, known as ivories, became popular as a charm to attach to watch fobs, resulting in the death of thousands for this one purpose. Hunters shot elk for food as well and by 1900, only an estimated 100,000 remained. The species finally gained protection from the governments of where it lived, a move that allowed populations to stabilize.
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References
- Photo Credit elk image by Brett Bouwer from Fotolia.com
