In sharing these images today, I am using the common North
American names for these animals. It was interesting learning about these
animals though because, the names are not consistent. Even in North America,
the Elk is referred to a Wapiti, from the Shawnee term Wa Piti meaning
White-rumped. Also, Elk are sometimes claimed to be the same as the European
Red Deer. However, mitochondrial testing in 2004 found that the much smaller Red
Deer is a different species.[i]
To confuse matters further, in Eurasia, the Moose is called an Elk.[ii]
The Pronghorn is sometimes referred to as an antelope but it
is not a true antelope. Unlike true antelopes, the keratin sheathing on its
horns is shed and regrown annually. The pronghorn is also the only animal that
has branched horns.
The Elk and the Moose are members of the deer family, which
means they have antlers made of bone. The pronghorn and true antelope, as well
as cows, sheep and goats have horns which have a bony center covered by a keratinous
sheath.
Anyway, forget the confusion unless it helps in social
conversation and enjoy these magnificent animals.
Canada’s Banff National Park is filled with stunning
mountain peaks capped with glaciers and snow. The steep, rugged mountains are
the source of beautiful, turquoise streams that feed alpine lakes.
The
turquoise water is interesting. As glaciers move, they polish the underlying
rock, producing very fine particles of dust called rock flour. The rock flour
mixes with the water traveling downstream. The color is a result of light reflecting
around the densely packed dust in the water. On bright days, with the sun
in the right position, the river displays the brilliant turquoise. If the sky
is more cloudy, the water will be a milky off-white. When it reaches the lakes,
the rock flour eventually settles out. But, if the river is filling the lake
quickly, the lakes can be turquoise also.
The
mountainside on this image from Kootenay National Park is beautifully colored.
But the coloring is deceptive. The rust color is dead conifers. The black is
foliage that was consumed by fire. Many of the conifers died due to pine beetle
infestation.
Please click on caption to see image at higher resolution!
On our recent trip through the Rocky Mountains, we were very lucky and saw a few of the North American Bears. You may see that they are identified as black bears and brown bears. I don’t know why they were named that way. Both black and brown bears can be black, brown, cinnamon and blonde. I’ve even seen black bears with white “collars”. The major differences is that the brown, or grizzly, bear has a distinctive hump and ears that are more rounded and more closely spaced. Brown bears usually grow to a larger size than black bears.
Note: Please click on caption to see image at higher resolution.
Bison (Bison bison) are an iconic species at Yellowstone
National Park. As many as there are and as often as I see them, I am still in
awe of them. This trip was especially fun because of the large number of
babies. They were standing, sleeping, scampering about; all the things babies do.
For the first few months of their life, the baby bison have a reddish colored coat; many people refer to them as red dogs. The adults were losing their winter coat, so patches of fur were missing or dangling on many of them. Others had a beautiful coat that appeared gold in the sun.
Please click on caption to see images at higher resolution.
Earthwatcher 