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Friday, November 26, 2010

These camera critters really are elk, says Dick, and I...well, I...

    Some years ago Dick and I were in the car, not far from home, when he suddenly shouted, "Elk!" at the top of his lungs, and stuck his arm under my nose in an attempt to direct my attention toward the field on my right.
    "No, dear," I said, when I had extracted his arm from my nose. "Those are pronghorn antelope. Little pronghorn antelope. Elk are large, sort of moose-sized."
    "Snrffle, mrff," he said, or something sounding like that. "I got the word wrong."
    "You probably don't even have elk around here," I said, because I spent most of my life in British Columbia where wildlife is really wild. BC is not where the deer and the antelope play, like Alberta is.
    "We do, we do," he insisted. "You'll see."
    But I never did see. I've never seen an elk in Alberta.
    Dick came home one day last year with a story about seeing elk an hour or two north of here, but he couldn't produce photographic evidence, so I refused to believe him. No proof, no "Oh, darling, aren't you wonderful?"
    Recently, however, he came home from a business trip waving his camera in the air, and, once more, yelling "Elk!" at the top of his lungs.
    "Where?" I asked, pretending not to see his camera. I looked out the window, but there wasn't even a deer or a rabbit out there. Wasn't even a dog.
    "In here, look, look!"
    "I'm rather busy right now, dear. Maybe later you can show me what you think is an elk," I said, smiling on the inside but looking like a very strict, very busy wife on the outside. Or a very busy blogger, anyway.
    "Just look here!" he said, pointing to the LCD screen on his camera. "What do you think those are?"
    "Spots," I said, "four spots."
    "Just a minute, just a minute, I'll zoom in on them."
    "Oh," I replied, straight-faced, "now there are only two spots."
Four spots
    "Here, here, here," he said. "This one's better, look at this one."
    "It's out of focus," I replied, looking at it.
    "Oh, that's the wrong one. Here, this one is better."
    And he was right. Two elk. Two large elk. And he hadn't really had time to leave Alberta, unless he had gone to Saskatchewan, which would have been silly.
    So, now I know there are elk in Alberta. And the third picture was better than the second one, also better than the first, for that matter, although you can enlarge the first one and see the four spots are elk, too. Not antelope, not deer, not rabbits. Elk. Yep.

Two of the four elk, rather nice-looking ones, too. 
To see other critters that have found their way into people's cameras, please click
Posted by Kay for Misty Dawn's Camera Critters photo meme.
Both photos, in this instance, are by Richard Schear.

23 comments:

Cildemer said...

Great post and great captures too!
Thanks for sharing;o)

***
Have a nice weekend****

Sylvia K said...

Lovely critters they are, too! Wonderful post and photos as always! Hope you have wonderful weekend! Enjoy!

Sylvia

Katney said...

hehehehe

Large members of the deer family are easy to confuse.

Everyday Goddess said...

i've never seen an elk, this is great!

Anvilcloud said...

I saw several elk in Alberta ten years ago when we were out there for a few weeks. Of course, I was told it was a moose.

Later, on the same trip, my life almost ended when a moose suddenly loomed in front of my speeding car when we were leaving Banff. And then it moved out of my way.

Mr Puddy said...

Kay, I wish I can jump on their back like a big cat : )

Dimple said...

Yep, they are elk! Wildlife is rather tricky to capture, I think. Always moving! You'd think they would pose, but usually they are too busy trying to evade the camera. Rather like some people I know!

dianasfaria.com said...

That is too funny Kay - your hubby must be so happy you told this story on your blog!
they are really beautiful though, aren't they?

Rambling Woods said...

Score one for the hubby then...LOL... They are beautiful animals and I am sure he is thrilled to have the proof....Michelle

Anonymous said...

Oh, those elk are magnificent!

Cezar and Léia said...

Never seen them on the road... And I hope I won't... :) Better elsewhere.
God bless you!
Cezar

Ann, Chen Jie Xue 陈洁雪 said...

I hope they are protected.

Jo said...

Oh wonderful Kay! I love that your hubby brought photographic evidence! Brilliant post and I love his photos too! I like your blogger background, is this in honour of your upcoming trip? Have a wonderful weekend, my dear friend. Blessing and (((hugs))) Jo

Fran said...

Magnificent animals, certainly never to be found around here! x

eileeninmd said...

Cool shots of the elk. They are beautiful critters. I got to see them in Yellowstone and they are awesome looking in person.

DeniseinVA said...

How exciting. The only time I have ever seen Elk was when I went to Yellowstone a few years ago. They have them up in Pennsylvania too which would be a shorter trip to go see them. I hope to do that one day. In the meantime I will enjoy photos such as these.

Nikki - Notes of Life said...

Great shots. I love the story to go with them too :D

Leslie said...

Love your story : ) And the elk are really magnificent. Of course I've never seen them except in photos... the only wildlife we see around here is the occasional raccoon or possum (if you don't count water birds.)

P.S. I didn't know Breakfast at Tiffany's was a book either - and I love the movie. It's actually in a book of short stories by Truman Capote. Very much like the movie, but fun to read because Holly Golightly in the story is so EXACTLY like the Audrey Hepburn character, in every way.

Chubskulit Rose said...

Beautiful shots!

My Camera Critters post.

Indrani said...

So you got your proof, I guess all bloggers need that. :)
Great post and great pics too.

Cathy said...

Hello there
When you said four spots - never having seen an Elk before - I thought you meant they had spots then it clicked - four small 'spots' on the screen meant a tiny picture showing four small animals lol
They have really nice coats and I love that paler coloured rear end.
Take care
Cathy

Francisca said...

What a delightful story, Kay! :-D And Dick did get a marvelous shot of the elk, too. When I was in BC last winter, my wonderful bro-in-law took me to a spot he had often seen elk for me to get a photo, but I was out of luck... never did see one... not even the one we drove past at night that my sister saw and I missed. Beautiful critter, hey? Dick must have been ecstatic to see them.

Frostbite and Sunburn said...

Great shots - well done hubby!