A Cow's Place

A Cow’s Place

Cow elk are often found in larger numbers. You’ll see young bulls with cows, calves with cows and other cows with their calves all in one herd. You can learn a lot about how elk communicate and socialize by watching herds of cows. You will surely see all sorts of personalities. From hyper, young calves chasing each other to vocal cows mewing at each other and their calves. Elk communicate vocally and with body language.

Here a young calf yawns as she grazes and walks around near her mother. This is her first winter and she appears to be very healthy. I found her in a herd of about fifty elk. She will be well protected in this herd.

Carefully examine this photo. Notice how every direction is covered by at least one pair of elk eyes? Calves are very safe in a herd. These elk are relaxed but they are always alert. They could go from a bedded position to an all out run in an instance. I once observed a spooked herd of elk in a meadow. They didn’t have the energy to run away so they circle the wagons so to speak. They gathered in such a tight group that they were almost stepping on each other. The calves were safely tucked away in the middle of the group. Other, mature cows stood on the outside of the group ready to attack if necessary. Some coyotes had threatened the herd. A coyote is no match for a mature cow but young calves are vulnerable.

Cow elk can be very aggressive at times. These two cows both wanted to graze the same spot. What happened was a very short and not so violent fight. The cow on the left won the argument. She would throw a front kick at the other cow. They almost rose up on hind legs and boxed it out. But the other cow gave in. Notice how they put their ears back. Horses do the same thing when they get mad. Be careful around a horse with his ears back. But look for a fight when you see two elk with their ears back starring at each other.

This is not so common. A young 4x4 full is hanging out with this herd. Normally bulls gather with other bulls for safety during winter months. This is a young bull with large antlers for his age. He’ll most likely be with other bulls next winter.

I like this photo. These two cows appear to be identical twins. When elk focus on something they can remain that way for a long time. Usually longer than humans can bear to stand still. Who’d win in a starring contest you or the elk? You’re right the elk would win.

Here a cow calls to her calf who has wandered too far out of range. Notice the cow in the background. She’s nibbling on the small pine. Elk do that out of boredom. There is no nutritional value in a pine needle. However, elk do eat them. Every little bit of food counts in the winter months.

A mature cow beds while her calf stands nearby. Notice the black circles on their hides? Most likely ticks they picked up during the spring and summer. Ticks attach themselves to elk. Sometimes you’ll see birds, magpies specifically, on the backs of elk picking off the ticks and eating them. The elk seem to enjoy this. Too many ticks attached can leave an elk in poor health. Ticks become so large that when elk bed they burst against the weight of the elk and the ground.