Tag Archives: Spike

The Young Prince

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The Young Prince8908Spike Bull Elk Rocky Mountain National Park

The herd bull is King of the herd. He rules absolutely and his primary duty is to create a harem and sire as many calves as he can. He looks for the most acceptable cows so that his offspring are most suited to continue his line. Because he is the biggest and strongest his prodigy should be too. When he is successful it is readily apparent as his young are smaller versions of himself.

This is the young Prince, a result of a successful union between himself and the Queen Mother, the dominant cow in his harem. He is being groomed to assume the role of master of the herd just as soon as he grows his antlers to their full potential, has the required number of battles with his peers and finally is able to confront and over come the herd bull. This is no small task and the outcome is in no way guaranteed. There are at least three to five more years of growing and training and avoiding the mishaps, such as accidents, falling prey to predators or being killed during the yearly hunting seasons, that are the regular fate of most bull elk.

If he makes it and is able to assume his place as King of the herd then he too will pass on the lineage he was born with. Right now he is just beginning to see the path before him and he is trying mightily to bolster his confidence. The carefree life of a young calf is behind him now and he’s paying very close attention to what the older bulls are  doing. His turn is coming up and he will need all the strength and experience he can gain. Wish him well, he has a long difficult journey ahead of him.

The Ugly Elkling

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The UglyElkling5815click to enlarge

Since the majority of my readers are barely out of their teenage years, or wish they were, it won’t be a stretch to remember what it was like being a teenager. I know I can remember every agonizing moment. It’s that time where absolutely nothing is right, you feel like everybody’s looking at you, they are by the way, your coat feels funny, you walk stupid, and your antlers, your poor antlers. You can’t even grow a pair of decent antlers.

The young cows are now looking at the herd bull with his magnificent antlers with an appraising eye and totally ignoring you except when they’re humiliating you with agonizing comments of “Hey Dweeb, nice antlers” or “Great set of antlers you got there Skippy, didn’t they have them in your size?” It is the worst time of your life.

But and this is a big but, things change. I know right now that doesn’t seem possible, but they do. Next year you’ll have filled out a little more, the big bulls will let you hangout around the edge of the herd so you can learn how to walk and act cool, your voice will change and it won’t be long and your squeaky call will morph into a full-throated bellow, things will be looking up.

And your antlers, whoa dude are you going to have a set of antlers. They’re going to rise up out of your forehead, spread four feet across and three feet high. They’ll fork into needle sharp spears and be 5 or 6 points a side by your fifth year and weigh twenty pounds. Big heavy beams, gorgeous polished tines, you may be even be a Royal. Anything’s possible. Then it’ll be your turn to say “I don’t know babe, maybe later”. So hang in there, better days are coming. But for right now, honestly, go hang out in the bushes til those things fall off.