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Great Smoky Mountains

September 30, 2009 by Spencer 

Cataloochee is a valley in the Great Smoky Mountains of North Carolina. This weekend I had the opportunity to spend a day and a half there. The weather was very overcast and rainy (got to love early fall in North Carolina) but that never stops me from trying to get some shots.  It is still a little early for fall colors, but I hope to return in a couple of weeks to capture that amazing spectacle.

In 2001, 25 elk were reintroduced to the area. Then in 2002 another 27 were added to the herd. The elk that were reintroduced wear radio collars and are monitored. Project partners include the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation, Parks Canada, Great Smoky Mountains Natural History Association, Friends of the Smokies, the U.S.G.S. Biological Resources Division, and the University of Tennessee.

Elk once roamed the southern Appalachian Mountains and elsewhere in the eastern United States, but they were eliminated from the region by over-hunting and loss of habitat. The last elk in North Carolina is believed to have been killed in the late 1700s.  In Tennessee, the last elk was killed in the mid-1800s.  And by 1900, the population of elk in North America dropped to the point that hunting groups and other conservation organizations became concerned the species was headed for extinction.

The elk is an amazing animal, and to see it in its natural habitat is something everyone should experience.  Grab your camera and head to the closest natural habitat in your area and see what you can capture with your lens, you never know when it may disappear.

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