Charcoal Drawing “Bull Elk Bugling Challenge”
Size: 18” x 24”
Medium: Charcoal Drawing
Paper: 60# Acid Free White
Sealed and preserved with Krylon Matte Finish which eliminates the glossy sheen, is non-yellowing and is also moisture resistant.
Original Drawing Price $249.00
Charcoal Drawing – “Bull Elk Bugling Challenge” Prints
This charcoal nature drawing print of a Bull Elk Bugling Challenge which was drawn in early 2009 can be yours in a style or format that will fit perfectly into the design of your home or office.
The Bull Elk is perhaps the most sought after prize by sportsmen and photographers alike the their beauty and size is amazing and when you hear an elk bugling it will raise the hair on the back of your neck an make your heart start pounding. capturing on of these royal creatures whether for sport or viewing is an amazing feat. Nature often provides us with great wonders of wildlife and the bull elk is know exception to the beauty and grace of mother natures amazing animals.
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Elk and other members of the deer family belong to a group of animals called ungulates, the Latin word for “hoof.” All ungulates have hooves. This large group used to be considered one order, but now “ungulates” refers to two distinct orders, Artiodactyla and Perissodactyla. The number of toes is the most obvious difference between the orders. Artiodactyls (elk, deer, bison, pronghorn, peccary) have an even number of toes. Perissodactyls (horses, elephants) have an odd number of toes.
Elk, moose, caribou, white-tailed deer and mule deer all belong to the order Artiodactyla and to the deer family, Cervidae. The males of these species grow and shed antlers each year. (Female caribou also grow and shed antlers.)
Like other ungulates, members of the deer family are herbivores — they eat only plants. Their diet may include grasses, forbs (low-growing, short-stemmed plants), shrubs and trees (including limbs and bark).
Members of the deer family must eat and watch for predators at the same time. Elk fulfill these double needs by gathering in herds. In a group, at least one animal is looking up while others are eating. Even the animals that are feeding are constantly twitching and turning their ears to listen for unusual or warning sounds.
About Antlers
Each spring, male deer and elk begin growing antlers from bony bumps on their skulls called pedicles. Increasing daylight elevates the level of the hormone testosterone in the animal’s blood, which triggers the growth of antlers. Antlers begin as layer upon layer of cartilage that slowly mineralizes into bone. They are light and easily damaged until they completely mineralize in late summer. A soft covering called velvet helps protect the antlers and carries blood to the growing bone tissue.
If you look closely at a deer or elk antler, you’ll see grooves and ridges on it. These mark the paths of veins that carried blood throughout the growing antlers. The blood stops flowing to the antlers in August, the antlers finish hardening, and the velvet falls off or is rubbed off. The hardened antlers are composed of calcium, phosphorous and as much as 50 percent water.
An antler grows faster than any other kind of bone. It can grow up to 1 inch (2.5 cm) a day during the summer. Biologists are studying antlers in the hopes of learning the secrets of rampant cell growth, secrets that may unlock cures to various forms of cancer.
In his second year, a bull elk usually grows slim, unbranched antlers called spikes that are 10-20 inches (25-50 cm) long. By the third year, antlers begin developing tines that branch from the main beam. By the seventh summer, a bull’s antlers may have six tines each, weigh as much as 40 pounds (18 kg), and grow to a length and spread of more than four feet (1.2 m). Why would an animal need to carry around a rack of antlers that weighs so much? A large rack identifies a bull that is successful in finding food, lots of food.
A bull must consume huge amounts of nutrients to obtain the energy and minerals needed to grow antlers as well as the energy to carry them around. Large antlers also identify a bull that is able to defend himself against other bulls and against predators. This information is of great interest to female elk (cows) because they will mate with the strongest, most successful males — usually the bulls with the biggest antlers.(This information was found at http://www.elkplanet.com/elk%20facts.htm
