Photographers enjoy the beauty of the natural world and strive to
capture their subjects in beautiful, exciting poses, but unfortunately
some things in nature are not beautiful. While I prefer to concentrate
on the awesome beauty that can be found in the outdoors, it is good to
document some of the less pleasant aspects of the outdoor experience
so that the public is aware of the reality of life for animals in the
wild.
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| The Beauty of Nature: Canon 70D-Canon 300mm f2.8-ISO 400-1/320 sec. f 3.2 |
As we pointed out in the last post, most who visit
the elk hope to see an exciting bull fight, but they often do not
consider the serious injury that can result to the participants. A
prime example of this was when the famous character bull "Fred, Jr." was
gored in 2000. I do not know if anyone got to see the fight in which
he was injured, but I found him in the Winslow Hill back country one
September morning in 2000 and was surprised to find that he had a large
hole in one side.
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| Fred Gored-2000-Canon L2 Hi-8 Camcorder Video Still Capture |
I spent over an hour with the great
animal as he stood on a hillside licking his wound. After close
observation it seemed likely that the wound had not penetrated vital
organs and he had an excellent chance to recover.
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| Fred's Wound: Canon Elan II-Lens Unknown-35mm scan |
I was further reassured when he suddenly scented the
air and then ran into a nearby hollow where I found him pursuing a hot
cow. By the next autumn there was no sign of the injury and I had the
privilege of recording him and the Test Hill bull in the fight that is
featured in The Elk Country Visitor Center theater presentation and my
film, "The Truth About Pennsylvania's Elk Herd. A small portion of this
fight is also included in my latest film, "Running Wild in Pennsylvania
Elk Country". Both films may be purchased at Benezett Store.
At
least one fatality resulted from a bull fight on Winslow Hill this
year. To the best of my knowledge someone reported to the PGC that a
bull was dead, but the officer who responded could not find the animal
and asked noted elk photographer Ron "Buckwheat" Saffer if he had seen
it. At this point Saffer had not, but he later found the animal and
notified the PGC.
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| Goring Victim: Photo Courtesy of Ronald J. Saffer- Used by permission |
The bull was in The Saddle Area. If you look
directly over the back end of the bull in the photo below you can see
Dewey Road in the background and the large meadow to the side of the
road where the fight took place that was featured in the short video I posted recently.
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| Goring Victim: Photo Courtesy of Ronald J. Saffer- Used by permission |
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Soon Wildlife Conservation Officer Doty McDowell arrived and removed the animal.
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| WCO Doty McDowell Arrives: Photo Courtesy of Ronald J. Saffer- Used by permission |
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| WCO Doty McDowell Removing Elk: Photo Courtesy of Ronald J. Saffer- Used by permission |
According to Buckwheat this was not a particularly
distinctive bull. Although it had a beautiful 6x6 rack, it was still a
young animal albeit one with excellent potential to grow into an
exception bull had this not happened. It is not one that stood out above
the rest of the herd for any particular reason and so would not be a
"character" bull that was known to a lot of photographers and elk
watchers.
The first question someone usually asks is what did they do with the
elk? I have not corresponded with WCO McDowell about this, but based on
my past experience as a PGC Deputy and Maintenance worker I would
expect that the elk would be not fit for human consumption. It is
possible that the hide was saved and extremely likely that the antlers
were salvaged and will end up being exhibited in an
information/education display at some point.
Deaths
from fighting are not an every day occurrence during the rut, but they
are not rare either and it seems that one usually hears of one or more
bulls dying each year from injuries received in a fight.
I wish to extend special thanks to Ron "Buckwheat "Saffer for sharing his photos of the incident with us.
Originally published at
Pennsylvania Wildlife Photographer by Willard Hill.
