Larry A. Smail's Blog

   Laurie and I took her mother into elk country. We wanted her to see some the big beauties!

Bedded cow elk.

The are we chose to check out was in and around Bennezette, Pennsylvania. We, also, visited a White Birch forest site in the Quehanna. We saw a number of elk at various places. We saw a bull aggressively chasing his cow harem. We saw another bull with seven cows and calves. We saw some bedded elk.

One nice bull was seeking out a cow in dense vegetation. I managed a number of photos of him. I saw one doe and a black squirrel.                                               

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  White Birch trees always create special feeling within me. I love the white color and the deep contrasts against green pines and   laurel patches. I asked Anne and Laurie if they wished to see the Marion Brooks  site of natural White Birch growth. They agreed the observation would be of interest.

My mother-in-law, Ann Craft, upon hearing of my past rattlesnakes in area.

This area consists of over 900 acres of a natural White Birch stand within the Quehanna Forest. In this acreage are a lot of surface  rocks. Little ground cover exists but the conditions are great for birch. Waist-high ferns cover the ground. Teaberry plants at the ground level area readily viewed. Some other trees are intermixed within the birch trees, too.

We walked a scant trail through the site. The two women weren’t very happy once I informed them of seeing five rattlesnakes in this habitat two years ago. they got over it…well sorta!