Pennsylvania Elk-The Velvet Is Shed: 2010

In last week's Camera Critters, I posted photos from years past of Pennsylvania Bull Elk in various stages of the velvet shedding process.  This was in anticipation of an upcoming trip to Pennsylvania Elk Country this past week.

Two of the bulls that I photographed this week served to illustrate the point that there are no hard and fast rules in nature.  In last week's post I stated , "once the process begins, it is usually completed in a day or so", but the most commonly seen bulls this week were clear exceptions to the rule.


This first animal featured today had a small strip of loose velvet dangling from one antler and small blood spots throughout the velvet, when I sighted him on Tuesday morning. The small strip of loose velvet was gone by that evening, but little else was changed.  I saw him several times during the trip and when I photographed him for the final time on Friday morning he looked much the same as he did at the time of my first encounter with him..

6x6 Bull In Early Stages Of Shedding Velvet

In most cases, once the velvet cracks and dangles in strips, the bulls rub trees, saplings, and the ground in an effort to dislodge it, but the largest bull I photographed seemed to have an aversion to doing this as he had long strips of dried velvet dangling from his antlers throughout the week.  I was around him for extensive periods of time on several occasions, but not once did he rub his antlers against anything.

Dried Velvet Hanging In Strips

While the long range forecast for the trip, called for hot and humid weather with a lot of clouds and showers, it actually turned out to be clear and beautiful much of the time, with only fluffy white cumulus clouds in the sky, which resulted in some spectacular sunsets and I can think of few better ways to end a day afield than by photographing the fiery show that nature provides as the sun drops below the horizon.

Elk Country Sunset

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Originally posted at Pennsylvania Wildlife Photographer by Willard Hill