The Humor in Nature

During the springtime bull elk should have already dropped there antlers and should have some good new growth of velvet on their way. The older and more mature bull elk should have quite a bit of new growth already started especially compared to the younger bull elk. Some of the younger bull elk might have still been carrying by the end of April, the beginning of May. I was glassing some elk a couple of days ago and I was watching a group of cows gazing on a steep hill side working their way down to water. They were very slow mannered without a care in the world. I kept glassing different elk farther from the cows I was previously watching and they all seemed to share the same demeanor. After a while of glassing I was just about to get up to go back to camp when I caught some fast movement. I looked down and there were about six elk running into a meadow kicking their heels. I got my glasses on them and they were all bulls. There were a couple mature bulls and some adolescent bull elk and they were very playful and full of energy. They ended up working about 200 yards from me playing joyfully along the way. This is where I caught something funny. One of the younger bulls kept taunting the rest of the mature bulls he would run in make a cut move like a running back and then bail to the side lines. The older bulls would give an occasional charge but the young bull was too quick and full of energy. When they got closer to me I noticed the young bull during his taunting, right before he would bail, he would stand on his hind feet and stick out his tongue. I couldn't help but laugh at the whole scene because it was so much like a bunch of kids playing at a park. It was such a refreshing reminder of how amazing animals are in their natural habitat.