WILD BY NATURE PODCAST | EPISODE 5 — Listen to the haunting bugle calls of bull elk in the alpine meadows and valleys along the Big Thompson River.
A compilation of short recordings made in Rocky Mountain National Park at dusk on October 3, 2022, and dawn the following day. Elevation 8040 feet.
My apologies for posting this episode an entire season late, but a busy fall schedule left me little time to devote to this newsletter. I’ve been hoping to record the elk rut for several years now, but the endeavor turned out to be more challenging than I anticipated. And so, despite the delay, I hope you enjoy this throwback to the autumnal sounds of the elk rut.
Autumn is a spectacular time of year in Rocky Mountain National Park. The foliage changes color in vast waves that cascade down from the tundra as frosty temperatures and shorter days set in. The alpine shrubs and herbs that thrive above the treeline are the first to change color. Cadmium, crimson, rust, sienna, and umber hues sweep across the tundra and descend in waves that wash over the aspen groves, understory, and montane meadows of the lower elevations.
But the changing colors in the landscape are not the only signs of autumn’s arrival in the park. This time of year includes another spectacular natural shift within the park—the arrival of the elk breeding season.
As the cooler season sets in, elk move down from the high country and gather in the meadows at lower elevations. There they form large herds, and bull elk challenge one another to gain dominance over harems. Male yearlings—too young to claim a harem and too old to hide within one—linger on the periphery, somewhat confused by their lonely predicament.
Throughout the rut, bulls engage in various displays of bravado. They bugle, they roll in the mud, and they rub their antlers against trees and shrubs. Such behaviors aim to attract cows and ward off competing bulls. These tactics sometimes fail to drive away the competition. In such instances, bulls face one another in battles to establish dominance.
When cows come into estrus, they are receptive to mating with dominant bulls for a short time, just 24 hours. Cows can experience as many as four estrus cycles in a season, though most become pregnant in the first or second cycle. The gestation period generally lasts between 240 and 262 days, and cows give birth to a single calf (twins are rare) in late spring or early summer.
Elk Rut