What do roosevelt elk eat

Roosevelt Elk are hungry animals. They have to eat large amounts of food to support their herding tendencies and large body size. From late spring to early fall, Elk mostly graze for food, eating grasses, ferns, and other leafy vegetation. By late fall, they become browsers, feeding on shrub and tree beaches as well as sprouts. Unfortunately, the amount of food that Roosevelt Elk have to consume can lead to the species becoming its own worst enemy as large herds can damage their food supply by stripping too much material from their staple food plant and trampling over them.

Because of this, the size of Elk herds has to be kept from growing too large in relation to the available food supply. This means that hundreds of small organisms, including decomposers and scavengers, can share in the meal, giving them much needed food. Roosevelt Elk calves are born in late May or early June when there generally is enough food available for the mother to eat, and the weather is warm enough for the calves to survive.

The calves are usually born under the cover of dense spruce forests, where they are protected from the elements and hidden from predators. Calves are born with protective coloration, which are light spotted areas on their backsthat serve as a sort of camouflage. A few days after giving birth, the mother joins other females, which are also known as cows, that also have new calves. An excellent place to see elk is the Hoh Rain Forest. These non-migratory herds stay in the Hoh area throughout the year, banding together in herds of around 20 and consisting of females and their calves.

Male elk, or bulls, can be seen singly or small groups. September is a great time to hear them bugling, as it is mating season and the males compete for groups of females.

Diet: Roosevelt elk feed mainly on ferns, shrubs, and lichens from the rain forest, as well as meadow grasses. Role in the Ecosystem: Roosevelt elk are the largest herbivore on the peninsula, making them an important indicator to the health of the ecosystem. They must eat a significant amount, considering their size, which can over-graze and deplete a vegetative area if there are too many.

With not enough grazing animals, predators may not be able to survive. While their only main natural predators are bears or mountain lions, if an elk dies, its size can provide food for hundreds of organisms from large predators to scavengers and decomposers.

Throughout the late 's and early 's, the Roosevelt Elk population declined significantly due to an increase in hunting as more Europeans settled. Younger mothers will fill-in as needed. There is considerable exchange of individuals among adjacent herds. Most of the year, Roosevelt elk feed on grasses and sedges. Roosevelt Elk are one of the four surviving races of elk which are a species of deer in Oregon. These elk are the third largest land mammal in North America and have a population in Oregon of around 59, Elk are found in temperate Pacific Northwest rainforests and throughout northern California.

They are also called Olympic Elk. In , President Theodore Roosevelt created what originally started out as an elk reserve in Washington state.