Rolande and I went for a Sunday drive yesterday in Banff National Park. Along the way we came upon a young bull elk, grazing on the side of the road. We were able to get quite close without disturbing him and captured a few pictures, including the following. He’s aware of our presence but not particularly concerned, continuing to graze while keeping and eye on us.
Elk are also called wapiti, a Native American word that means “light-colored deer.” Elk are related to deer but are much larger than most of their relatives. A bull (male) elk’s antlers may reach 4 feet (1.2 meters) above its head, so that the animal towers 9 feet (2.7 meters) tall.Bull elk lose their antlers each March, but they begin to grow them back in May in preparation for the late-summer breeding season. This bull’s antlers have begun to regrow, not yet fully developed. At this early stage, the antlers have a soft, velvety coating that will wear off as they reach their full size.
I was no more than 4.5 metres away (15 ft.) when I took this photograph from the car window. I used a 18-200 mm lens at its maximum focal length. With an aperture of f5.6 and the ISO setting at 800, the shutter speed was 1/500 sec.