Wildlife
Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Elk Rut
It’s September, which means it’s a magical time of year. The verdant blanket of summer shuffles aside just enough for fall to poke its rosy head out for a few tentative moments and signal its imminent arrival. Also, it’s time for some elk lovin’. [caption id="attachment_2217" align="aligncenter" width="480"] Photo by Thomas Torget[/caption] We at Flat Creek Inn know you’re secretly very curious about what goes on during elk rut, so we’re doing the responsible thing and answering...
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Jackson Hole Wildlife, Part 7: Bighorn Sheep
It's the bighorn sheep's time for the limelight. If the 6th installment in this series was Return of the Jedi, our 7th installment is Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows—with fewer Horcruxes, but more headbutting. Latin name: Ovis canadensis How big are bighorn sheep? Bighorn sheep are the largest wild sheep in North America, ranging in size from 160 to over 300 pounds, depending on gender. What's up with the "bighorn?" As you may have deduced, bighorn sheep are famous for their—wai...
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Wolves in Yellowstone
The Wolf Yellowstone was founded to protect it's natural, wild beauty. The wolves in Yellowstone, however, have not always been invited to the protected wilderness club. When the Park was first founded, understanding of ecosystems was different, and wolves were considered negative for the health of Yellowstone because they killed other animals. Here's a way to get an idea of wolf size: fox, coyote, wolf. Picture from NPS website. Nearly 140 wolves were killed by park rangers fr...
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Jackson Hole Wildlife, Part 6: Moose
Welcome back to our Wildlife of Jackson Hole series! This is the sixth installment, which basically makes it a very antler-heavy Return of the Jedi.* Today: moose! A bull moose surveys his dominion. Latin name: Alces alces How big are they? Moose are the largest members of the deer family, weighing up to 1200 pounds. To sustain their bulk, they have to eat about 75 pounds of plants a day in the summer and 35 in the winter. So how big are those antlers, th...
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Jackson Hole Wildlife, Part 5: Elk
Welcome to the next installment of our wildly (get it?) popular series Wildlife of Jackson Hole! This week’s entry has a special place in our Flat Creek hearts, since they live in a giant refuge right across the street from us: the elk! The mighty elk. LATIN NAME: Cervus elaphus What’s an elk’s social life like? Elk are social animals and live in large herds, as we in Jackson can attest. Herds can range up to 200 or even 400 members—or, if they’re the Jackson...
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