Blog

It’s A Rut

11/19/2015

September and October is the rut (mating) season for the elk. It is worth going to Rocky Mountain National Park (RMNP) during the rut season to see it for yourself. I have found that RMNP offers some of the best, close up viewing in the United States. It is intense and can be viewed from the roadside.

The bulls form harems and guard them relentlessly from other bulls. Only the largest and most handsome bulls get the right to mate, as the females only want the best! The single bull here does not have any females yet, and is busy trying to steal them away from other larger bulls.

A small bull will have 6 to 8 females in their harem, while large bulls can have as many as 2 dozen. I am not sure what they are thinking, because that is a lot of women to try to keep in line.

The bull's neck enlarges, and he becomes very aggressive, because of his highly increased testosterone levels. With all his posturing, he becomes overheated, and cools himself off by rolling in mud.

Bull Elk spend days and nights defending his harem from other bulls. He rubs his antlers against trees to mark his territory, and rubs bushes and the ground with his antlers, picking up debris stuck to make his antlers look bigger. He calls out (bugles) to show his dominance. The male will check his females constantly to see if they are in estrus by sniffing their rear ends.

Male Elk shed their racks each winter and every spring they grow a larger one than the prior year. The shredded racks are a food source for small animals during the winter months.

The rut typically lasts 20 to 30 days, but can sometimes last for 6 weeks. The bull elk work hard during the rut season. They barely get to eat or sleep, as they are so busy keeping their females from straying, and chasing away other bulls. By the end of a rut season a bull can lose 20 percent of its weight, roughly 200 pounds. This makes the winters very hard on them and only the strongest will survive.

The male will make himself more attractive to the females in numerous ways. In addition to picking up debris to make him look larger, He will also urinate on himself, or on the ground and roll in it, coating himself in his perfume. Oddly enough the females find this attractive. And this my friends, is one of the reasons we are higher up on the food chain.

A female will go into estrus 3 to 6 times during the rut season. It will only last a few hours at a time, so it is important that the male doesn't miss the event. With the bull constantly sniffing the females rear ends, but when the time is right, the female will not run from the bulls' advances. She will rub heads with him, then turn her backside to him, and he will mount her. It only lasts a few seconds. Most times, she will not be impregnated the first time she goes into estrus.