Just a profile portrait of an Elephant Seal bull.

Tags:   elephant seal bull Mirounga angustirostris pinneped two tons California wildlife nature conservation animal planet beach master protect the environment protect public lands protect wildlife

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Rocky Mountain National Park.
I won't be Flickring for a couple of weeks. Don't miss me too much...

Tags:   Bull Moose Bull Moose In Velvet rocky mountain national park wildlife national parks alces alces nature conservation Colorado wildlife shiras moose Colorado Moose dewlap protect the environment protect public lands protect wildlife

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Another image from the digital foot locker. We found this golden eagle dining on a roadkill jackrabbit near Capitol Reef National Park in Utah. We watched as he dragged it a few feet into the brush and chowed down.

Tags:   golden eagle raptor bird of prey Aquila chrysaetos cornell lab Audubon magazine nature conservation protect the environment protect public lands protect wildlife

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From the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation:

"When a bull elk lifts his head and curls his upper lip into a grimace, he’s not just acting tough for the ladies—he’s trying to figure out if his love life is going to pick up.

The snarl is called the flehmen response and by curling their upper lips bulls expose their vomeronasal organ (located in their palate) that is used to detect estrus in cow urine, which in turn lets the bulls know when it’s time to go courting.

Elk are not alone. Other ungulates and cats, big and small, perform the curl. Unlike whitetail or mule deer does, cow elk don’t advertise when they’re in heat through altered urination stances or any obvious physical displays. If they did, it would only draw unwanted harassment from the rivals of their herd bull, who already pester them enough.

Often, a herd bull has to approach cows in his harem in a non-threatening mating stance, sometimes repeatedly, to find out if the time is right. Since bulls can’t read minds, the vomeronasal organ and the grimace saves them a little rejection and wasted time."

Tags:   Bull Elk flehmen response Rocky Mountain National Park Elk rocky mountain national park wildlife Colorado wildlife Cervus elaphus nelsoni nature wapiti big antlers conservation wildlife of the west Wildlife protect the environment protect public lands protect wildlife animal planet

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This young bison calf reminded me of the calf that Billy Crystal's character adopted in the movie City Slickers...Norman.
We found him in Yellowstone National Park.

Tags:   bison calf yellowstone wildlife yellowstone bison calf plains bison yellowstone national park nature conservation bison bison bison protect the environment protect public lands protect wildlife

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