As the Deer…

January 17, 2024

According to Britannica, elk are the largest and most advanced subspecies of red deer in North America.[1] I put this bit of trivia at the start of this post in case my references to deer, while showing a picture of an elk, bothers anyone.

I took this photo on a family trip to Yellowstone National Park, a trip I’ve mentioned in other posts. I had several elk photos to choose from and for some reason this one spoke to me more than the others. I believe it has something to do with the look in this elk’s eyes. It was as if he were looking straight at me as I stood behind my camera.

As you can see, elk are large, majestic animals. In the deer family, they are exceeded in size only by the moose. The bulls (males) in Yellowstone weigh approximately 700 pounds and are about five feet high at the shoulder.[2] I can tell you, as someone who is about 5’7”, and has seen many of these animals up close and personal, they are large.

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I didn’t witness this personally, but there is a great video HERE if are interested in learning about the elk in Yellowstone. The narrator talks about and shows how these bulls approach one another during the mating season. They begin to advertise their strength, condition, and ability to be a good mate through bugling, rubbing their antlers, tearing up the dirt, urinating or wallowing in mud—all in an effort to get their scent in the area.

Sometimes the bulls approach each other in what is called parallel walk. They walk past one another, sizing the other up. They may chase one another or lower their heads, rattling and sometimes locking their antlers in an effort to chase the other away.

The winner’s prize is a harem of cows (females), who are also attracted to his actions.

Must be nice to be king of the hill for a while.

But no matter how big, strong, or virile the elk is—he can’t make it without water. Depending on the source, I’ve read that large bull elk need between four and ten gallons of water a day. Elk tend to live within ¼ to ½ mile away from water bodies to ensure their ability to get to the water.

I thought about that need for water as I looked at this photograph and remembered what one of the Psalmist wrote in Psalm 42.

“As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, my God.” (Psalm 42:1, NIV)

At times in our lives, we may feel like king of the hill. We’ve advertised to the world our strength, condition, and abilities. We’ve accumulated things that are temporary at best, sometimes believing they will give us what we need—what we search for.

But, like the elk, who needs water on a daily basis and chooses to not stray far from it, we need God daily. In fact, we need Him continuously, for without Him, we would not exist. And like the elk, we should choose to stay close to God, so that we are not caught away from our source of life.

May we strive for staying close to the Lord through continual prayer and time in His Word.

I enjoyed listening to the song, As the Deer, performed by Shane & Shane as I thought about the elk and my need for the Lord.

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[1] https://www.britannica.com/animal/elk-mammal

[2] https://www.nps.gov/yell/learn/nature/elk.htm