Summer of 19 - #21 - Cherokee - Mountain Farm Museum & a Herd of Elk.

Monday 16th September, 2019 - Part 2 of 2
As I mentioned in my previous blog, after finishing our visit to the Indian Museum it was still early in the day. We decided to go and look at the Mountain Farm Museum at the Oconaluftee Visitor Centre.  We had seen this, in the distance, when we stopped here for information on a previous road trip, but were too tired at the time to walk around it.

Oconaluftee Visitor Centre

This plant provides food for wildlife, and the berries can be made into Jelly(Jam).  The leaves contain compounds known to repel mosquitos.

Man made fences

The path to the farm museum went alongside a stream/river.  It was very picturesque.

We'd just started on the path to the museum when this chicken ran up to us, it was followed by three or four others.  Yes, I spoke to them and told them I was sorry but I didn't have any food for them.  Bryan on the other hand said "Dinner" 😆

Sue peeking between the trees

There was a sign warning of Elk in the area and not to approach them.  It is an offense to be within 50 yards of them.

Davis House

Davis Farm House

You couldn't go into the farmhouse and we took these pictures from the doorway, of the inside.

We started the walk around the exhibits.

Meat House

Bird Houses

Privy(Toilet)

Apple House 

Inside Apple House

Fencing

Sorghum Mill & Furnace. Excerpt from link - "Sorghum cane, a crop grown on many mountain farms, was used to produce sorghum molasses.  The cane was fed between rollers of the animal powered cane mill, which squeezed out the juice.  The juice was then boiled over the furnace until it turned into thick dark, stringy molasses.  Ten gallons of juice yielded about one gallon of molasses. "Long Sweetening," as it was called, was used in dozens of recipes and as a syrup."

Cantilever Barn

Bryan investigating the old farm machinery & watching out for snakes!!!

As we were walking around, a lady told me they had seen a herd of about 20 Elk earlier.  I was a little sad as we had missed them, but at least we had seen them the other day and I was happy about that.

We started to walk on the trail through the woods, a man just walking back showed us an Elk that was just by the river bank, and very close to us.  He was so well camouflaged by the trees that we almost missed him!!!  We managed to get some quick pictures before he crossed the stream and disappeared in the woods on the other side.  He was "bugling" quite frequently though and it was awesome to hear him.  It was the first time we had heard one "bugle".  The Bull Elks "bugle" to attract the females but also to challenge other Bull Elks for a herd.  We didn't see any other elks except this one though, so maybe he was in search of the others.

Bryan taking the picture below

Sue taking the picture below

Coming back from seeing the Elk we found the pig enclosure. We actually smelt it before we saw it, ha!!ha!!

We started walking back toward the visitor centre.  Bryan noticed a herd of Elk in the field across from us.  They were further away than the herd we saw a few days ago, but it was still awesome to see them.  There was a bull & the rest were females.  I wonder if this was who the other bull elk we had just seen was "bugling" at.  Was he preparing to get into a fight with this Bull, or trying to entice the females away. Although he was walking in the opposite direction, so maybe he'd decided against confronting this bull.  

It is rutting(mating) season at the moment. This LINK gives a good account of what happens to the Bull Elks after the Rut.  We are very lucky to see both bull and cow Elks together as, apart from rutting season, the females stay together and keep separated from the males in different locations. 

I continued looking at the exhibits. 

Chicken in the chicken house!!!

We sat on a bench and had a snack and rested.  Something told me we might see more elk.  We didn't sit for long and got up to continue the walk back to the visitor center.

Then Bryan noticed that the herd of elk had walked to the end of the field where we were.

I suddenly realized that they were probably able to cut through the bushes at the edge of the field and come down to the river.  

We were the only people there!!!  There were people just starting to walk down the trail but they stopped once they saw the elk and kept their distance. We stopped as well but the elk just kept walking toward us.  

In the picture below you can see the people up the hill at a distance.  We were so close, probably within the 50ft boundary, eeekkk!!!  We didn't try and move at all, as we didn't want to alarm them, so we just stayed still and watched and took pictures.

The elk weren't bothered by us, and continued down to the stream.

Then, here comes the bull elk!!!!  Oh my gosh, he was something else.  I slowly retreated a few feet, Bryan didn't, and the bull walked right across the path in front of him!!!!  I was only six feet behind him and still had an awesome view, although I was a little worried about Bryan.

The bull elk went into the stream.

I decided to take a VIDEO on my phone as my camera batteries had died!!!  I tried to Go Live on Facebook, but I didn't have a signal.  The bellowing you can hear near the start of the video, and at intervals during the video, is the bull elk "bugling".

A ranger arrived shortly after I started the video, and made us move further along the path.  We ended up joining the people further up the trail, and what was deemed to be a safe distance.  I continued to video while I was moving and after we reached where he moved us to.  He didn't know the elk had come from the meadow in front of the visitor centre, and walked through and across in front of us until Bryan told him.  

The bull elk ate some leaves off the trees and was battling the branches.  I caught that on the video.  Their antlers can weigh up to 40lbs.  They shed them in the winter and they regrow in the spring.

The bull wandered off through the woods on the other side of the stream, and in the direction of where we had seen the other bull elk go earlier.  A doe followed him, from further up the stream.

The other does remained in the stream, feeding on leaves and drinking.

What an amazing end to our day.  This is the second time we have seen elk since we got to Bryson City.  Here, near Cherokee, and in a meadow up the road, and both times during the day when they are not usually out and about.  It probably has to do with it being mating season, and I'm so thankful that we have been able to see these magnificent animals at such close quarters, and hear the bugling.  I would love to see two males battling each other, but I doubt we will see that.

We haven't seen any bears though.  Wait a minute, what's that???  It's a bear staring at us through the window of the Visitor Center.  😂

We headed home after a very successful day out. 

However, back home, the mouse saga continues......Yep, the peanut butter and cheese have gone again and the mouse is still on the run!!

When we got home from our day out, I suggested to Bryan that he just put peanut butter on the trap as it would be harder to get off and hopefully the mouse would get caught.  He did that, and as we were watching television in the evening we heard the trap go.  He looked and we caught another mouse, yay!!!  We've loaded the traps again and we will see if the peanut butter disappears or we catch any more.  Keep your fingers crossed.