One thing about living in Pa. you need to accept and embrace the seasons. When spring is coming the snow begins to melt away and the the migrating birds return to their summer homes. The coming of summer is welcome by all. The children anxiously wait for school to end and dream of nights spent in the pool instead of slaving over homework. After all, who doesn't like summer. The coming of fall is a season of mixed emotions. While we absolutely love the sights and smells of autumn we also fully understand that the next season is just around the corner.
The end of summer is the season where the elk have pretty much reached the climax of their antler growth. The rounded ends of their tines are now more pointed and the soft velvet begins to come off. While this velvet doesn't look all that tasty to me the elk snack on it at every opportunity. It's actually loaded with all kinds of healthy nutrients and minerals. On a recent trip to Winslow Hill we got up close and personal with a nice bull shedding his velvet. By the way he is already beginning to show signs of aggression and that will escalate as the rut begins.
This was a nice respectable 5 X 6
In the image below it's pretty obvious that the velvet has pretty much been stripped away on the one side while the other is pretty much intact.
Okay, how many more pictures do you need to take before I get some privacy?
1 comment:
A good post, Tom. I think most of the large ones were well along in the shedding process during my week there.
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