Feb-Mar03

February – March News

February is dismal and cold. Just when the elk thought there was no good browse back in December and January, along comes February. The sun appears very weak through mostly cloudy skies. Snow falls sometimes light, sometimes heavy. The wind blows almost constantly. But the elk survive. They nibble on willows, bark and dry, brown grasses. They move very little, conserving energy to get them into spring. The good news is February is a short month. Soon the heavy snows will give way to the warmer temperatures of spring.

March is wet and windy. The winds kick up to hurricane force during the first few weeks of March. Heavy, wet snows fall. Snowstorms seem more frequent in March and April. This snow is different though. It’s heavy and wet. If you look close enough you will see green grasses coming up. Trees begin to bud at lower elevations. Only the strong plants come out in March. Elk begin to travel a little lower this time of year. They know green grasses await them on Southern and lower slopes. Movement is difficult in deep snow. The elk move slowly, searching for those areas where spring arrives early. Their summer range won’t be passable until June or July. For now elk are content to finding better forage. March is a welcomed month because the elk know if they can make it through this month they will have survived another difficult winter in the Colorado Rockies. Occasional rainstorms water the land and welcome more and more plants back to the surface. Elk will nibble on the smallest grasses as they grow. Finally they can eat food with nutritional value to help strengthen them. Antlers fall off in April and new ones begin to grow. New growth requires highly nutritional plants. The cows are in their last stages of pregnancy. The gestation period is 8 months for the young calf inside. They need quality browse to help them and the baby. Elk look very tired and raggedy this time of year. Considering everything they’ve been through it’s really a miracle they survived at all. After months of eating poor quality food, being hunted by man and beast and long cold nights they have new hope.

Elk emerge every spring weak and tired. Spooking elk this time of year could easily lead to their death. Even the young, healthy elk move very little. If you see elk this time of year you will notice their movement is very limited. Maybe from meadow to a tree covered ridge is all they travel. Less than a mile is their range this time of year. As March progresses they do migrate, however, as they did when the first heavy snows pushed them from the high mountains. They head lower. They aim for their traditional spring locations where the new grasses grow faster. It’s not uncommon to see those elk, which wintered at 8,000 feet in elevation to be at 6,000 feet near a creek or spring. Where there is water and warmer temperatures they know they will find quality browse. Even if the winter snow pack was light and it’s clear up to 9,000 feet, elk will seek new food lower.