William H. Wiley
402-875-1809
bill@wmwiley.com
1221 Rockhurst Dr.
Lincoln, NE 68510
Easily climbing a hillside of diseased Lodgepole pine trees, this elk displays a large 12-point rack. Elk have lived in the Greater Teton area for millennial, migrating as the seasons change. Prior to taking this picture, this elk was “bugling” to gather his harem of about 15 elk cows and calves during the annual rut.
In late September this solitary bull moose casually crosses the Snake River to browse near giant cattails. Moose are members of the deer family and their diet is primarily terrestrial and aquatic vegetation. The most common moose predators are the gray wolf along with bears and humans. Bull moose normally weigh between 835 to 1,545 pounds in the Rocky Mountains, whereas the largest confirmed size for the Alaska moose was a bull that weighed 1,808 pounds and measured 7.6 feet high at the shoulder.
Searching for a tasty mouse or vole, this coyote would trot a short distance, stop, cock his ears, look intently at the ground, jump like an acrobat into the air, spiral nose down into the dense brush and raise his head with a mouse in his mouth. Specialists in rodent control, coyotes and foxes perfected this technique eons ago using their acute hearing and keen sense of smell.