Wapiti and the Rosse Posse Elk Ranch

This past week I had the unique experience of attending a theater performance, part of which began in an elk barn on a farm in Molalla, Oregon. Rosse Posse Elk Farm is a 52-acre working elk ranch with 70 head of elk. My daughter and I were able to take some time before the play started to wander around the ranch with one of its owners to see the elk and learn some amazing information about them.

Click here to listen to listen to the audio version of this blog entry.

I personally love elk. They have a connection with the Algiz rune, the rune of protection, and it was this rune symbol that appeared on my elk hide drum as it was being made. You can see the symbol right in the middle of the drum in the picture. The drum is 18 inches in diameter, so is quite large.

In some areas elk are called wapiti, a word which supposedly comes from the Cree Indian language and means “white rump or rear.” The Rosse Posse family uses the word to describe the elk meat they sell at the farm. For those of you who are interested, elk meat is low-fat, low cholesterol and has the equivalent nutritional value of white meat chicken. If you have never eaten any, I highly recommend it—especially in a slow-cooked stew.

The male elk right now are still in velvet and their antlers or racks are quite impressive. Antlers, which are bone, start growing in the spring and are shed each winter. They can be up to four feet long, weight 40 pounds and grow an inch a day. Some of the bulls on the farm are enormous, weighing in excess of 700 pounds. They stand five feet or more at the shoulders. There were a couple of Roosevelt elk with their impressive beards. The Alaskan Roosevelt elk can be as large as 1300 pounds. During the mating season (or the rut), elk engage in ritualized behaviors that include sparring with the antlers and bugling, a most unusual sound which apparently attracts females and establishes dominance. If you visit the Rosse Posse website here you can hear some audio clips of the bugling as well as get a glimpse of the herd.

The velvet, which is highly vascularised skin, is shed or rubbed off in summer as the antlers grow. It is a great source of nutrients and is eaten by many different creatures, rodents, birds and small mammals. The antlers are shed in the winter, and they too are gnawed on and eaten as they contain great supplies of minerals and nutrients. That explains why shed antlers are rarely found in the wild.

A close encounter with an elk in the wild can be quite intimidating, even frightening. I recommend you stay clear, since they can outrun you. Perhaps a visit to the farm would be a better way to get to know the elk!

If you would like to know more about the Algiz rune, it symbolism and meaning, I would love to share that with you.

Ingrid Kincaid is an internationally known storyteller, teacher and spiritual mentor. She is an intuitive reader of ancient runes. She gently shows her clients how to tap into their own inner wisdom by weaving together creativity, spirituality and ancient knowing. Ingrid is available for interviews, private consultations and group presentations. You can contact her at ingk@ingridkincaid.com or 415.652.3990.