Female Elk. Photo credit: Randy Neufeldt

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.

In early summer, elk migrate to high mountain grazing grounds where the cows (females) will give birth. Each cow typically has a single calf, which can stand by the time it is 20 minutes old.

During the late summer breeding season the bugling of bull elk echoes through the mountains. These powerful animals strip the velvet off their new antlers using them in violent clashes that determine who gets to mate with whom. Males with the bigger antlers, typically older animals, usually win these battles and dominate small herds.

In the winter, wapiti reconvene into larger herds, though males and females typically remain separate. The herds return to lower valley pastures where elk spend the season pawing through snow to browse on grass or settling for shrubs that stand clear of the snow cover.

Elk were once found across much of North America but they were killed off and driven to take refuge in more remote locations. Today they live primarily in western North America, especially in mountainous landscapes such as Wyoming’s National Elk Refuge and Yellowstone National Park. Some eastern U.S. states have reintroduced small elk herds into heavily wooded wilderness areas. Continue reading →

May your troubles be less and your blessings be more. May you realize what all your pain and hard work is for. May you find the peace you seek within and have the patience to tolerate women and men! Have a great day friends. ~Julie Hernandez

Sometimes we fear of exposing our true self to someone to prevent rejection, and the only thing that we think in order for us to fit in is to pretend to be the person they want us to be. ~Unknown

Parrots are wild, not domestic

Currently the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) bans the sale of any wild-caught species, yet the parrots’ popularity continues to drive illegal trade.

Some parrot species are highly endangered. In other cases, once tame birds have reproduced in the wild and established thriving feral populations in foreign ecosystems. The monk (green) parakeet, for example, now lives in several U.S. states. ~Source: NationalGeographic

If you can’t sleep, then get up and do something instead of lying there worrying.
It’s the worry that gets you, not the lack of sleep. ~Dale Carnegie

Worry can sneak up on you like a thief in the night. Learn what these well-known people
had to say about worry – and how it can be the ultimate waste of time. ~ Stephanie Sarkis Ph.D.

No regrets… just lessons. No worries… just acceptance.
No expectations… just gratitude. Life is too short.
 ~Jesse Joseph 

Positive people are usually the happy and no worries people,
because they can think that whatever happens
and that everything will be fine.   ~Unknown