Male elk urine acts like cologne, bulls lose weight stressing over their harems and more wildlife tidbits.

Hugh Carey
Hugh Carey is a staff photographer for The Colorado Sun.
Hugh covers a variety of topics for The Colorado Sun, with a focus on outdoor and Western topics, breaking news and disasters. Prior to working for The Sun, Hugh was a long-time photographer/videographer for daily news coverage within the Summit County community, including winter Olympic qualifying events, breaking news, and story features.
He also has worked for the Cheyenne Tribune Eagle, and served as a guide and backcountry first responder.
Email: hugh@coloradosun.com Twitter: @hughkcarey
PHOTOS: Summit County torches 400 acres of beetle-kill ahead of wildfire season
SUMMIT COUNTY — The men stomp through the snow, snaking torches into stacks of timber and sparking flames. Soon, thin wisps of smoke turn dense and dark as orange flames lick the 10-foot tall piles of dead trees. Dozens of bonfires begin melting growing rings of snow, sending smoke high above Summit County last week. […]
Can skijoring, one of Colorado’s favorite extreme sports, go mainstream?
SILVERTON — On a freezing day in late February, a racer clicks into his skis along Notorious Blair Street, ready to race. He tightly grips a cotton rope that’s tethered to a cowboy’s saddle, anticipating a sharp jolt before the horse sets off down the snow-covered straightaway, reaching 40 miles per hour in a mere […]
North Park is ground zero in Colorado’s wolf controversy. Ranchers want to know if anyone hears them.
Cattlemen could “shoot, shovel and shut up,” but they say it’s not a long-term solution. Instead, they want the rest of Colorado to understand why they need lethal force to get rid of problem wolves.
PHOTOS: Snow-sculpting competition returns to Breckenridge
As temperatures hovered at -14 before dawn Friday, a group of carvers meticulously shaped snow sculptures in Breckenridge. Nine teams of artists from around the world were putting in finishing touches after traveling to the high-elevation ski town to compete in the International Snow Sculpting Championships. Each had four days to carve a sculpture from […]
PHOTOS: Short on powder, Colorado’s ski resorts let snowmakers rip
Ski resorts across the country are leaning more heavily on snowmaking guns as warmer, shorter winters threaten a business model based on snow. In Colorado, the reliance on man-made snow has been essential to the start of the 2021-22 ski season, with all of the state’s 13 major river basins reporting precipitation through November well […]
PHOTOS: Aspen groves paint a technicolor masterpiece in the Roaring Fork Valley
ASPEN — The first snow of the season dusted the Elk Mountains above Aspen on Saturday, providing an early glimpse of winter as chill sneaked into glowing aspen forests. For the last two weeks, aspen trees in the Roaring Fork Valley have exploded in dazzling hues, ranging from neon yellow to pale red. Some groves […]
PHOTOS: Vigil for Boulder shooting victims brings community together in crisis
With candles, songs and flowers, hundreds of mourners gathered to remember the victims who died in the King Soopers shooting this week. Wednesday night’s vigil was not the first remembrance for the deceased. Houses of worship had held virtual services since the shooting and people gathered Monday night in a park near the grocery store. […]
“We want to lead”: Frisco uses art to reckon with the high country’s lack of diversity
FRISCO — At 9,097 feet above sea level, 15 artists used 16 letters to send a message and start a conversation about racism and diversity in Colorado’s mountain towns. “BLACK LIVES MATTER,” painted by artists on the pavement on Main Street in Frisco in 20-foot letters between Madison and First avenues, presents an impossible-to-ignore challenge […]