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Posted on December 20, 2007 by Sierra Brewer
Yet Another Reason We Love Living in the Smokies

In addition to the mild climate, low taxes, very low crime, the friendliness of the people, the economic opportunities, and the majestic beauty of the mountains (all of which I have discussed in earlier posts to this blog) there is yet another reason to live here in the Gatlinburg area. This would be our wonderful wildlife. A client of ours recently took this photo from his yard:


In the right hand edge of the photo you will see my red, white, and blue RE/MAX All Pro, Realtors sign in the Hayman’s yard. If you look closely in the center of the photo in the fog you will see something MUCH larger. This is one of the elk that strayed from the nearby Smoky Mountain National Park. Although very shy of humans and absolutely no danger to anyone, they are imposing simply because of their size. A full grown male elk is a huge animal with adult males weighing an average of 600-700 pounds while cows average 500 pounds. Adults are 7-10 feet long from nose to tail and stand 4 1/2 – 5 feet tall at the shoulder. Adult males have antlers that may reach a width of five feet.

The eastern subspecies of the North American elk (Cervus elaphus canadensis) was apparently abundant in Tennessee prior to the area being settled by Europeans. Early records describe elk living with buffalo, deer, bear and other wildlife. As settlement of the eastern United States accelerated, the elk were eliminated from the landscape. The eastern subspecies was completely eliminated from its historical range. Records indicate that the last elk in east Tennessee was shot in 1849.

The effort to reintroduce elk to the area began in 2001 and since then some 52 animals have been released in Eastern Tennessee. While it is uncertain how many animals are alive currently there have been calf sightings and efforts are underway to conduct a census of the animals. All of the released animals were tagged with radio telemetry units to monitor their movements and activity. Plans call for additional elk to be released within the next four years and it is hoped that the herd will eventually be self sustaining. With no natural predators remaining and the shelter of the park this looks to be a very achievable goal.

Another species that needs no efforts to revitalize in the Smokies is the wild turkey. Although Thomas Jefferson campaigned for this animal to be our national symbol instead of the bald eagle that effort failed and turkeys are now best used for hunting. They aren’t however very hard to find and in fact I recently took the picture below from my car window while putting up for sale signs in the Chalet Village area of Gatlinburg.

Though they don’t look like much in this photo they are truly spectacular birds especially if you happen to catch one in full display with its wings up and feathers fanned out.

If you would like to know more about what it is like to live in the Smokies or anything about our local real estate here in the Gatlinburg area please don’t hesitate to contact us. We consider ourselves truly blessed to live here!

2 thoughts on “”

  1. Anonymous says:
    December 23, 2007 at 8:14 pm

    Thanks Jeff for the great pictures. We have a cabin in Condo Villas and we also enjoy all the wildlife. The many types of rare songbirds is great to see and hear. Many of our renters to our cabin say that they spend the week hiking the national park but see more wildlife at the cabin. You rarely see a bear on the Newfound Gap road but we see them almost everyday at the cabin. We have also seen red foxes and a grouse. This is what makes life great in the Smokeys. Bob Howard

    Reply
  2. Jeff Schoenfield says:
    December 23, 2007 at 8:17 pm

    I couldn’t agree more and I can’t dream of living ANYWHERE else!!

    Reply

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