Elk

Apparently, elk are quite abundant in Colorado. The roads are even equipped with these solar-lit warning signs. 

We were also interested in the escape ramps for wildlife that find themselves on the wrong side of the highway fence. We saw lots of these.

This huge sculpture in antler form adorns a lawn at the Betty Ford Garden in Vail.

This large skull and rack was atop a store.

The first elk we saw in Colorado was on our third day there. We went in the evening to the Rocky Mountain National Park, hoping to avoid human congestion and to see more wildlife. As we were leaving and it was getting dark, a cow was grazing quite near the entry gate.

If you gotta go, you gotta go.

The next day, we saw these guys enjoying the sun at a much higher altitude.

These elk were out enjoying the slopes. The young calves were running and sliding on the snow. 

There are lots of elk in the picture that were not on the snow.

If you click on the picture below, you can see the profile of elk with large racks against the cloudless blue sky.