Thursday, August 7, 2008

Local WIldlife

Cervus Canadensis also known as wapiti also known as elk.  Isn't he handsome?  See his antlers in full velvet? And there are his pals in the background.  

This guy is already losing his velvet.  Elk and deer antlers are living body parts when they are covered in velvet in the spring and summer.  In late summer, the antlers turn to bone and the elk rub the velvet off.  That is what is happening here.  In the fall, the antlers fall completely off and they start over growing a bigger better pair next spring.  Antlers are the fastest growing tissue known to man.  Sometimes the velvet is harvested and used in medicines.  

Hey baby.

Teenagerus Americanus.  Look, she found a stone at Torch Lake, the third most beautiful lake in the world, according to National Geographic.  The name is from the Ojibway, Was-wa-gon-ong meaning Place of the Torches.  That was from the native American practice of using torches at night to  attract fish for harvesting.  For a time, the European settlers called it Torch Light Lake and now it is called Torch Lake.

The male of the species, also proud of locating a stone at Torch Lake.

Educating the Masses,
Normal Girl

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