Just what is habitat, anyway? It’s food, water, shelter and space. These are the four basics for all animals — whether it’s elk, elephants or elf owls — and people, too.
Food
The need for food is obvious. Picture a 900-pound bull elk grazing in a meadow of bunchgrass. The bull’s hoof thumps down beside the nest of a field mouse. When the mouse panics and flushes, it’s pounced on by a shrew that weighs no more than a quarter. Both the elk and the shrew rely on the same habitat — and are driven by the same hunger.
Well actually, the shrew may be a little hungrier. Elk need 10 to 15 pounds of vegetation per day, but shrews have to eat their own weight in insects, earthworms or mice every day or starve. Elk can go a bit longer between meals. But like all animals, they cannot survive for very long without food.
Water
Water is just as critical. Your body, an elk’s body, a weasel’s body… is all wet. If all the water in your body were removed, you would weigh about as much as a dictionary.
Naturally, elk and other animals are drawn to water holes — springs, seeps, lakes, creeks — but there’s more than one way to come by water. A sharp-tailed grouse that shares grasslands and wild rose thickets with elk can get all the water it needs by sipping dew and eating juicy plants. Elk use these same techniques, and they also eat snow to quench their thirst. Read more….