According to Colorado Parks and Wildlife officials, an elusive male elk with a vehicle tire stuck around its neck has been liberated. The elk had been tough to catch and had eluded rangers for two years, but after homeowners discovered him along County Road 126, wildlife officers Dawson Swanson and Scott Murdoch were able to tranquilize him and remove the tire. Swanson remarked in a news release, “I am just pleased to be able to work in a community that cherishes our state’s wildlife treasure.”
“I was able to respond swiftly to a tip from a local citizen about a bull elk sighting in their neighborhood.” I was able to track down the bull in issue, as well as a herd of roughly 40 elk.”
The elk weighed 272 kilograms (600 pounds) and had a large antler set, making removing the tire a challenging task. To relocate the tire, the rangers chose to remove the antlers. “Removing it was a challenge,” Murdoch added. “It wasn’t easy by any means; we had to manipulate it just so to get it off because we couldn’t cut the steel in the tire’s bead.” Fortunately, there was still some room for the bull’s neck to move.”
Nevertheless, do not worry about the elk: its antlers will regrow in time for the mating season next year, and the lack of antlers will lessen the likelihood of the elk being murdered. The elk, which is only four and a half years old, certainly deserves some free time.
The elk had been on the run for a few years, disappearing and reappearing for long periods during the winter while avoiding human contact. This, combined with elks’ proclivity for traveling in herds, made trapping them extremely difficult. “Being up in the bush, we didn’t expect to be able to get our hands on the elk just because of the proximity or distance away from civilization,” Murdoch explained.
“The further they get back in there, and normally the further these elk are away from people, the wilder they act,” says the guide. That was absolutely true the last couple of years since this elk was difficult to locate and approach.” The tire had accumulated a large amount of wet debris by the time he tranquilized and the tire removed, and the elk had lost 16 kilos (35 pounds).
Murdoch described the tire as “full of wet pine needles and grime.” “As a result, pine needles, dirt, and other debris filled the bottom part of the tire.” The debris in the tire weighed about ten pounds.” Despite the two years of chafing, the neck was in rather a decent condition. “The hair had been scraped off a little bit, and there was one small open wound around the size of a nickel or quarter,” Murdoch told the Guardian. “I was genuinely taken aback by how good it appeared.
