From autumn of 2006, these shots mark an important time in the re-introduction of the elk to the Great Smoky Mountains - some of the animals in this bunch in the Cataloochee area aren't wearing radio collars. In the top photo, a cow and two calves cross the Oconaluftee River near Cherokee, after being chased from the meadows by the visitor center by a mob of tourons. They were forced out of some prime browse and into the construction area in the photo below by the idiots who refused to follow the rules established by the Park for wildlife viewing. The construction marks the site of the new school that is being built near the Parkway for the Cherokee. This is miles from the original retroduction site in Cataloochee Valley. I'm not sure yet of the route that the elk followed to reach this area. The easiest route would be to cross out of the Cataloochee Valley to hit the Balsam Mtn. road, then drop down into the Big Cove area and on down to Oconaluftee. Of course, that would involve the elk runnng the gauntlet of dogs and speeding cars along the 10 miles or so of paved highway between Big Cove and Cherokee. I've seen sign on the Beech Gap trail while climbing to Hyatt Ridge, so it's possible that they crossed over using the high ridges to dodge the settlement below. I'm thinking though, that they probably crossed over near Spruce Mtn, and then dropped down the wooded slopes to Oconaluftee.

The elk are now holding their own, but for some reason, the herd seems to have an unusually high ration of bulls to cows. Another boost to the population has been considered, possibly from a successful herd at Land Between the Lakes in Kentucky. It is good to know that there are now some elk roaming the Great Smokies that aren't tagged and collared. It's possible that the population might actually be doing better than believed, with a substantial number of animals now residing un-collared in remote areas of the Park.