We visited the Parc twice in October. Once early in the month and then again in the last week.
Late September and October is a very interesting time to visit Parc Omega. The Parc is full of elk bellowing - the rut is on. Male elk compete to gather a harem of females for themselves. At least one red deer was adding to the chorus as in the second photo below.
Other than right at the entrance gate there didn't seem to be many harems formed yet, just a few bulls with one or two females. But there could have been larger groupings in the woods. The rut seemed to be over when we visited at the end of the month.
There is an uncensored version of "The Sound of the Rut" video, contact me if you have a specific interest in it.
An older bull elk was resting, taking no interest in the rut.
By the end of the month, some bull elks had dropped their antlers, or at least parts of them....
While the staff at the Parc advised me that there is no interbreeding between the red deer and the elk, we spotted a young male elk and young red deer doe nuzzling each other.
A few young females were talking about what to do, and having decided, split up and headed out for the day.
One of the red deer was only too happy to jump the low fence to come for a carrot
Two Canada geese gently nudged a great blue heron on a log in the Beaver Pond
A flock of turkey vultures was circling in the sky, a sure sign of something dead in the woods. Turned out that the various wolf packs had been fed their weekly large meal the day before and the vultures were looking for leftovers.
The black wolves were a little more active than sometimes, but not a lot.
Several times a day the Parc gives an interesting timber wolf presentation, providing them a light snack. With their just having had a large meal the day before, only a few members of the pack showed up and they weren't very enthusiastic.
Unfortunately, for the second visit ina row, the arctic wolves were no where to be seen in their new drive-through enclosure
The arctic foxes were out and about their large enclosure, but they were staying lower down in it which precluded much photographing as the fence was between them and us.
The coyotes were, as usual, relaxing in their area.
It was an unseasonably warm day, the black and cinnamon bears were taking it easy
We rarely see the moose in the open. There are two moose enclosures, one with three moose and one with two. The moose were out looking for a delivery of their treats for the day - fresh cut leafy branches.
During our first visit the Przewalski horses continued to give us their normal bum treatment, they don't seem to want to meander away from their shelter.
But at the end of the month, they were out in the field. One of them was looking rather forlorn partially covered in mud. It was awakening from anesthesia as it had just had its hooves attended by the veterinarian. The other two horses seemed concerned and several times came over to comfort the sorry looking one.
The episode gave us a first close look at the solid looking horses
The buffalo/bison at the end of the month were back in the large field relaxing after a good feed of hay
As in past years, one of the caribou had its antlers removed to deal with possible over aggressiveness. One of the caribou had some velvet still hanging from its antlers
Fallow deer were relaxing, some looking to see if we had anything on offer
The white-tailed deer were offering a clean-up service at the picnic site
And also enjoyed a picnic of their own with lots of carrots
The red fox had been hiding during our last few visits; we spotted it at the end of the month deep within the bushes.
A domestic cat appeared and moved into the fox enclosure. Everyone seems to be getting along, so the Parc staff have provided food for the cat.
The boars still have a number of juveniles with some growing to do
The silver fox, and the Rocky Mountain goats, who share the same enclosure, looked very nice with their winter coats coming in.
Blue jays, and chipmunks were partaking of the free meal provided by the Parc.
The mergansers, stopping on their trip south, had taken over one of the ponds
A great blue heron and a cormorant were allowed visiting rights it seemed
The best feature of the visit at the end of the month was a squirrel moving one of its youngsters to a new nesting spot.
