The Demise of My Geraniums

Two nights ago I did not put my geraniums under the RV in time. Our BIG bull elk had me trapped inside the RV for more than 30 minutes while he enjoyed munching on my geraniums and kicking the containers over & scattering the contents to make sure he had every morsel! A young cow elk tried to sneak in to get a nibble but big bull(y) kept running her off. His antics were the primary entertainment in the campground that night. I got to talk on the radio to our Chief of Law Enforcement, too! He wanted to know if I was inside the RV and if I was okay. Here at RoMo we don't talk on the radio unless it is an emergency so it was really nice that he checked up on me.

For a while I was worried because the elk was within 8 feet of the front screen door and there was no way for me to get out to close the hard door. The elk was extremely interested in Zuni who was in the doorway watching. She is fascinated by the cow birdies who snap up the bugs scattered by the elk grazing. I later cooked dinner for Jordan, one of the 8 NPS biologists who covers ALL the national parks. He said that even if the bull had stuck his head through the screen door he probably would have backed off because their antlers in velvet are extremely sensitive and pain would have driven him back. Good to know for next time, huh!

Jordan is my hero! He has actually listened to the radio ping of the only known wolverine in Colorado. AND he has met Doug Chadwick and one of his coworkers who has done a ton of wolverine research and wrote "The Wolverine Way". He met them while doing radio collar surveys here in RoMo and up in the alpine area listening to the Colorado wolverine. How cool is that?

Just a few pictures follow. I did not take any "bull eating geranium" photos because I did not want to scare him away and I was prepared to flee with Zuni!

Boney moose across the river from the amphitheater

They have lovely eyelashes despite the scruffy between-seasons fur

These campers across from me were trapped in their car while eating dinner. He is within 3 feet of their front door and is the second largest bull hanging around for more than a week now.

Does Zuni need a caption?

Licking the table at the dishwashing sink area. . . . then moving on to enjoy fire pit grills, the ash in the fire pits, vehicles and vehicle windows with salt on them - you name it! They lick it clean!

This is my geranium eating giant the day before he got the geraniums.