Great Smoky Mountains National Park
National Park Service U.S. Department of the Interior
SMOKIES GUIDE The Official Newspaper of the Smokies • Fall 2022
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Words with a Ranger Growing up in southwestern Pennsylvania, I was constantly out in the woods chasing after snakes, catching salamanders and crayfish, or going hunting and fishing. When asked what I wanted to be when I grew up, I gave the traditional answers: things like firefighter or police officer. I had no idea I could make a career out of doing what I loved. That changed when I was a teenager and took my first backpacking trip to Great Smoky Mountains National Park. While I was out on the trail, I ran into one of the park’s wildlife technicians at a backcountry shelter. He told me about the incredible work he was doing with the myriad of wildlife in the Smokies, and I couldn’t believe he was getting paid to do the things he did. I made up my mind right then and there that I would have that job someday. Fast-forward through 17 years of service with the National Park Service to the present, and I serve as a wildlife biologist in the very same park that inspired me to seek a career in the field. When I show up to work in the morning I could be catching newborn elk calves, darting Continued on page 8
A bull elk lets out a high-pitched bugle, raising a challenge to another male. Ear tags like the one pictured help park biologists track and identify individual elk. Image by Phoebe Carnes.
Keeping Up with the Herd Ancient rites of autumn return thanks to contemporary science
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he Smokies will provide a scenic backdrop to the clashing of titans this fall as bull elk challenge each other in a heated competition for mates. The spectacle known as the rut begins in September when male elk—the largest animals in the Smokies, capable of weighing more than 1,000 pounds— assert their dominance by vocalizing, prancing, and occasionally locking antlers with rivals. Their loud, resonant bugles signal that the annual courtship display has begun and will continue through early November. All the while, special radio collars quietly signal important details about the status of the herd to the park’s wildlife biologists. Although these high-tech collars may seem out of place on wild animals, they’ve become an essential part of preserving the health of the Smokies ecosystem and the elk themselves since
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they were reintroduced to the landscape in 2001. The data provided by devices like collars or tags allow biologists to track home ranges and develop population models based on elk survival and reproduction rates. Threats from disease remain a factor, but careful scientific monitoring is helping to ensure a thriving herd of around 200 elk can now roam, and rut, in the Smokies once again. The best places to stop for elk viewing in the park are the pull-offs and designated areas around Cataloochee Valley and the Oconaluftee Visitor Center. Just remember that the rut is a time of heightened risk to visitors, so it’s best to use binoculars or a telephoto lens. Federal law prohibits feeding or approaching elk or bear closer than 50 yards or any distance that disturbs or displaces the animals.
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PARK IT FORWARD Beginning in March 2023, parking in Great Smoky Mountains National Park will require a valid parking tag. For more info, scan code with camera app
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