Roosevelt Elk (aka Rainforest Elk or Olympic Elk) bulls challenging for social dominance hours after sunset in late September 2023.
Elk live in a fairly well-defined, yet fluid, social hierarchy. Only the biggest or strongest bulls earn the right to mate, so the competition during the female's estrus season is intense. Bulls earn their harem by exerting dominance over other bulls in their territory, either by driving them off or just scaring them off. When a challenger thinks they have what it takes to become the dominant bull they stray into that bull's territory and issue their challenge. If accepted (and it always is), what results is a fierce clash of massive bodies and sharp antlers pushing and shoving until one bull gives in. The battle leaves scars on the ground in the form of huge gashes where antlers and cloven hooves gouged the field and shattered tree branches were flung in the fury.
Recorded in the Quinalt Rainforest River Valley, there's an unavoidable distant wash of river in the background. In addition, there had been a heavy rain event just days before. The river was rushing fairly hard as a result, so the below recording is very lightly processed to reduce the influence of that noise. The unprocessed source immediately follows if you want to hear the difference.
I record elk by leaving recorders out in the field where herds are known to migrate. Occasionally I'm able to follow a herd and record more direct, but I do not want to alarm the herd or stress them unnecessarily, so I try to avoid this method.
Bugles are multi-toned calls that start low and transition into a scream. During the rut season, Bulls use this to express dominance over other males, warding off potential rivals, and attract potential mates. Outside of the rut they will often bugle when leading a herd.
Chuckles, or laughs, sound just like that, a series of short loud grunts. Like bugles, chuckles are used as a form of dominance and attraction call. You'll often hear them used when a bull is specifically calling his harem to gather. They produce chuckles on their own, or sometimes tag them onto the end of a bugle.
image: A magnificent and iconic Big Leaf Maple, taken the following day narthex scene of the battle.
Listen to more bugling and chuckling from this trip in the full playlist here: https://on.soundcloud.com/exa6D
Listen to an early morning soundscape in the nearby Queets Rainforest with a resident herd of Roosevelt Elk wandering through on their daily route here:
https://on.soundcloud.com/sJFsX
