Wildlife

These Bighorn Rams in their rutting season were triggered into a Headbutting battle we were lucky enough to capture. All in their Prime, three Rams eventually turned into four, with the attraction seeming to be the sound of other Rams headbutting. We are showing the highlights here, which is almost all headbutting of one of the most incredible Wildlife days in the Canadian Rockies for us. This is with original sound.. we hope you can appreciate why we left it as is, including it's faults.

King of the Mountains; Rocky Mountain Goats descend from the Alpine in Spring searching for easily accessible food today. Mountain goats have distinctive beards and thick, long winter coats to protect them from cold temperatures and biting mountain winds as seen here. A sub-alpine to alpine species, Rocky Mountain Goats are very sure-footed climbers not even rivaled by Bighorns. Mountain goats are not actually goats, rather close relatives more properly known as goat-antelopes. They have hooves with two toes that can spread wide to improve balance and better grab sharp surfaces. Rough pads on the bottom of each toe provides incredible grip, such as a natural rock climbing shoe.

Elk Bull Battles are numerous during the Rut in Canada's Rockies, but this one was especially striking. Here is a close look at the Largest Elk Bull in this area.. first, a couple clips over the last month, before today's marathon battle with this younger rival. The younger rival has not been stressed near as much during the height of the rutting season, and clearly had the stamina to outlast one of this areas most dominant bulls today. The Bull that conceded defeat today has been the most dominant elk bull in this area now for years. This well known King has had to battle and run off rival bulls on almost a daily basis over the last month and a half, of which shows athleticism and genetics that are extremely rare. We suspect he decided it was more important to preserve his energy as very few cows remain in estrus. He did sustain some injuries here, but will likely be back to fight another day.

Grizzly Bears seek out suitable partners from May through July with a peak being in mid-June. Please let us know if the audio is OK or if we should alter it? ..The Grizzlies did not make any natural sounds during this encounter and we thought we would lighten it up a bit.