Elk View Park - Gaylord, Michigan, USA

Elk gather around a hay feeder in an open grassy enclosure in Gaylord, Michigan, with others wandering across the field behind them. The elevated view follows the herd as animals feed side by side, pause near the trough and move between the feeding area and surrounding pasture.

The park’s herd has been part of the city since the late 1980s, beginning with three elk taken in after a local nature center closed. Today, the animals occupy a 108-acre (44-hectare) enclosure, with fallow deer and sika deer also living within the park.

Seasonal changes bring different rhythms to the enclosure, from spring growth and summer grazing to the autumn breeding season and snowy winter conditions. Bulls grow and shed their antlers each year, changing their appearance considerably. Although the camera centers on a feeding spot, the wider field gives the animals room to spread out beyond the immediate view.

Did You Know? Gaylord’s city elk herd began with just three animals rescued from a nature center that closed in the late 1980s.

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