Dreadlock Caribou, Denali National Park, AK – Image #2914

I am one lucky guy! Last week Denali National Park Service issued me a professional photographer’s pass for this summer to travel the park road to capture more photos like this one. I photographed this caribou on the park road last August while conducting a photo seminar at Camp Denali. Unlike mountain goats and Dall sheep, which grow horns that the animals live with their whole life, caribou grow antlers and shed them each year- only to grow another set the next year. Caribou antlers are covered in soft velvet most of the summer. In the fall, around the time of the rut, caribou rub the velvet off their antlers, leaving the blood vessels exposed that nourished the growing antler. Caribou are part of the deer family and the only species in that grouping where both the male and female grow antlers. Thank you for visiting. Camera: Nikon D800, Lens: 70-200mm f/2.8 zoom, Digital capture, ISO 400 Copyright Mark Kelley 2015