Elk Town. Elk Ram. Gentle Elk. Elk Fight. Baby Elk. Icy Elk. Spain. Georgia. Bugatti. Misty.

For "Mammal Monday":

"Every summer the town of Estes, Colorado is terrorized by rutting male elk so fired up they invade the streets and charge at the tourists."

More about this programme: http://www.bbc.co.uk/humanplanet

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The Elk that Likes To Ram Cars, (and Motorhomes)

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Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado

 

 

 

 

 

"If you want to feel like you're on top of the world, Rocky Mountain National Park is the place to go. At 7,500 feet above sea level, the park offers dramatic peaks and valleys, with 60 mountains over 12,000 feet high, and the tallest, Longs Peak, reaching a staggering 14,259 feet. With meadows, lakes, streams, waterfalls, forests, alpine tundra, and even glaciers, the park is home to astounding ecological diversity. Visitors can hike 359 miles of trails, camp in more than 200 backcountry campsites, and see a wide variety of plant and animal life.
If you go, Rocky Mountain is home to bats, bighorn sheep, marmots, moose, pikas, and some 280 documented bird species—but as autumn approaches, the area is best known for its 3,000-plus elk as they get ready to mate. Learn more about elk romance, or "rutting," in the slideshow above. "

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Gentle Elk.

"Zookeepers at Pocatello Zoo, Idaho, were worried when they noticed Shooter, a four-year-old elk, acting strangely at his water trough.

'Shooter is such a huge animal - he stands at six feet tall without his antlers - which are another four feet, and he's pretty scary.

Baffled, they watched as the animal - who is so massive some keepers are afraid to even enter his enclosure - tried to dip his hooves into his drinking trough, before attempting to dunk his whole head in the water.

But they were amazed as 10ft tall Shooter lifted his head from the trough clutching a tiny marmot - a kind of large squirrel - between his jaws.

Mammoth: Shooter the elk stands 10ft tall from his hooves to the tip of his antlers.

 

 

To the rescue! Shooter pulls the hapless marmot from his water trough.

Down you go: Shooter gently lowers the tiny rodent to the ground

The gentle giant placed the hapless rodent down and nudged it with his hoof, as if checking it for signs of life, before calmly watching it scamper off into the bushes.

Safe, but soaked and somewhat shell shocked, the lucky marmot seems happy to be back on dry land.

'Some of the staff don't like going in his enclosure with him - he's punctured car tires with his antlers before, so to see him being so gentle with a little animal was heart-warming.

'We all know he's a real character, but I think he must have a soft side we didn't know about.  He was trying to dunk his head in the water, but his antlers kept getting in the way.  Nobody could figure out why he was trying to get his head in, and then he started dipping his feet in.  We were all completely confused, until we saw the marmot in his mouth.  I think he had nudged the animal away from the edge of the bucket with his antlers and hooves so he could reach it with his mouth without his antlers getting in the way.   'It was very sweet.'

Zoo staff caught the entire rescue on camera. 'It really was amazing,' said Kate O'Conner, Pocatello's education coordinator.  Zoo keeper Dr Joy Fox added: 'We think Shooter sensed that the animal was in distress and decided to help.

'However, he could have just decided he didn't like having something in his way.  He spent quite a bit of time planning how to grab it.'

The zoo plans to auction off Shooter's incredible antlers when they are shed later in the year."

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Elk Fight.

"Bull Elk battle in the middle of the Madison river in Yellowstone National Park."

This video excerpt is from our dvd, "The Wildlife of Yellowstone" available at www.yellowstonenationalpark.com

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Elk gives birth by ranger station in Yellowstone

"Superb photos of a cow elk giving birth to her calf right next to the Administration building at Yellowstone National Park headquarters in Mammoth Hot Springs!  You can see how wildlife and people can live together harmoniously.  And I figure it is one of the few places in the Yellowstone area where a cow elk can safely have her calf without it being eaten immediately by a grizzly or a wolf!"

Enjoy these great photos!  Tim Reid, Chief Ranger, Yellowstone National Park

"When I see nature in action like this, several things immediately go through my mind...I know animals have feelings and love just like humans....and I know there has to be a God to have created us all.... things like this just didn't evolve out of the oceans, folks...there had to be an Architect, A Head Engineer...it's too complicated....this is absolutely the emotions of love and maternal instincts at the finest."  From:  http://justonemorepet.wordpress.com/2010/11/07/elk-born-in-yellowstone-amazing-photos/

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Icy Elk.

"Hunters in Wyoming rescue a cow elk stranded in a icy hole in a stream. After she nearly tramples the hunters, she confounds them with her actions that follow."

Video courtesy Elk Foundation Life Member Ron Niziolek.

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On This Day:

Reconquest of Spain, Jan 2, 1492:

"The kingdom of Granada falls to the Christian forces of King Ferdinand V and Queen Isabella I, and the Moors lose their last foothold in Spain.

Located at the confluence of the Darro and Genil rivers in southern Spain, the city of Granada was a Moorish fortress that rose to prominence during the reign of Sultan Almoravid in the 11th century. In 1238, the Christian Reconquest forced Spanish Muslims south, and the kingdom of Granada was established as the last refuge of the Moorish civilization.

Granada flourished culturally and economically for the next 200 years, but in the late 15th century internal feuds and a strengthened Spanish monarchy under Ferdinand and Isabella signaled the end of Moorish civilization in Spain. On January 2, 1492, King Boabdil surrendered Granada to the Spanish forces, and in 1502 the Spanish crown ordered all Muslims forcibly converted to Christianity. The next century saw a number of persecutions, and in 1609 the last Moors still adhering to Islam were expelled from Spain."

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Georgia enters the Union, Jan 2, 1788:

"Georgia votes to ratify the U.S. Constitution, becoming the fourth state in the modern United States. Named after King George II, Georgia was first settled by Europeans in 1733, when a group of British debtors led by English philanthropist James E. Oglethorpe traveled up the Savannah River and established Georgia's first permanent settlement--the town of Savannah. In 1742, as part of a larger conflict between Spain and Great Britain, Oglethorpe defeated the Spanish on St. Simons Island in Georgia, effectively ending Spanish claims to the territory of Georgia.

Georgia, rich in export potential, was one of the most prosperous British colonies in America and was thus slower than the other colonies to resent the oppressive acts of the Parliament and King George III. However, by the outbreak of the Revolutionary War, Georgian Patriots had organized, and delegates were sent to the Second Continental Congress. During the war, Georgia was heavily divided between Loyalists and Patriots, and the British soon held most of the state. Savannah served as a key British base for their southern war operations, and the grim four-year British occupation won many Georgians over to the Patriot cause. In 1788, Georgia became the first southern state to ratify the U.S. Constitution."

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Jan 2, 2009:

Rare Bugatti found in British garage

"On this day in 2009, media outlets report that a rare unrestored 1937 Bugatti Type 57S Atalante Coupe has been found in the garage of a British doctor. A month later, on February 7, the car sold at a Paris auction for some $4.4 million.

The black two-seater, one of just 17 57S Atalante Coupes ever made by Bugatti, had been owned by English orthopedic surgeon Harold Carr since 1955. Carr, who died in 2007, reportedly had kept the rare vehicle parked in his garage since the early 1960s and hadn't driven it in five decades. The car was built in May 1937 and originally owned by Francis Richard Henry Penn Curzon, the 5th Earl Howe. Curzon was also the first president of the British Racing Drivers' Club and a winner of the 24 Hour Le Mans race.

When it was built, the 57S Atalante Coupe was capable of reaching speeds of more than 120 miles per hour at a time when the average car couldn't do more than 50 miles per hour. It was also notable for its low-slung frame and V-shaped radiator and featured pig-skin upholstery. At the time of the auction, Carr's car was said to be in good condition and had 26,284 miles on its odometer.

The Bugatti car company was founded in 1909 by Italian-born Ettore Bugatti (1881-1947) in present-day Molsheim, France, and became known for producing expensive, cutting-edge sports cars and racing cars. From the time of its founding until the 1940s, the company built fewer than 8,000 cars. Following the death of Ettore Bugatti in 1947, the company went into decline and changed hands several times. In 1998, Volkswagen bought the rights to build cars under the Bugatti name. In 2009, the company introduced the Bugatti Veyron 16.4 Grand Sport, a sports car convertible which was capable of speeds of some 253 miles per hour and carried a price tag of more than $2 million. The Veyron could reach 60 mph is under 2.5 seconds."

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Yesterday:

Misty slowly started to recover from whatever it was that ailed her the day before.  She walked more steadily, and ate some food, though not as heartily as usual.  It is still a mystery, she had no tummy upsets, didn't seem to be in pain, just didn't feel right.  Thank you for your get well wishes. 

Misty and I went to pick up Jay, so Jay and I took her for a little walk with Maddie, Jay's dog.  It was windy, but not cold enough for the dogs to wear their coats.

Back here, Jay and I put together the tops for my L-shaped computer area, and temporarily installed it so that I could at least use this old computer.  Still more work to be done to it, but I had to take Jay home to help his mother with their little dinner party.

Later, Misty and I went down there, as I was invited to eat some of the tender baby back ribs, black-eyed peas, cabbage, carrots, squash, and pineapple upside down cake.  There were just the four of us, including their neighbor, Muffie's "Dad".

As Misty was feeling better and I was full, it was a great new year's day.