Since it appears that my Buffalo Bills are about to embark on a 16 game march towards the number 1 draft pick, it might be a good idea for me to find something to do on Sundays that is better than watching football. Even though the Bills don't play until this evening, I did one of those things yesterday.
It had been a few years since I'd gone up to Rocky Mountain National Park for Elk Bugling season. Every Fall, the male elk round up as many females for mating purposes as possible by letting out a loud, high-pitched noise and showing off their racks. If you've never been in Colorado for this, you need to come and check it out.
Yesterday we had a great day of elk watching. First, on the way to the park we happened upon 4 young bighorn sheep, enjoying the grass along the side of the road. Then, while we were on a short hike before elk time (they tend to become most active a little before dusk) a good size, brightly colored red fox ran about 10 feet away from us. So, we had already chalked up some bonus critters before the elk show even started.
Not only did we see a bunch of large elk belting out their mating noise, but we also saw 2 young males going antler to antler in a process they apparently do to show off to the young ladies what good mating partners they are. This looks kind of like a couple of wrestlers locked head to head. It is pretty common to see the elk bugle, but not all that common to happen upon he antler wrestling.
We also saw a few females who switched guys......when we first saw them they were with one male, but they then wandered across the street to another dude, who then chased off the other males around.
Nature. Pretty cool stuff. If only there had been a guy with a telestrator and instant replay to explain it to us.
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