Bull Elk Bugling, Estes Park, Colorado Photo Print

"Bull Elk Bugling, Estes Park, Colorado" by Catherine Sherman. "Bull Elk Bugling" by Catherine Sherman. A bull elk bugles (calls) to his herd of about fifty female elk, who are following him on a hillside in Estes Park, Colorado. It's November, and the competition for females is over for the year. The town of Estes Park is outside of Rocky Mountain National Park. The elk or wapiti (Cervus canadensis) is one of the largest species within the deer family, Cervidae, in the world, and one of the largest terrestrial mammals in North America and Northeast Asia. This animal should not be confused with the still larger moose (Alces alces) to which the name "elk" applies in British English and in reference to populations in Eurasia. Elk range in forest and forest-edge habitat, feeding on grasses, plants, leaves, and bark. Male elk have large antlers which are shed each year. Males also engage in ritualized mating behaviours during the rut, including posturing, antler wrestling (sparring), and bugling, a loud series of vocalizations that establishes dominance over other males and attracts females.