Ever seen an elk pee on its own face? Nah, I didn’t think so…
Living in Wisconsin, elk aren’t exactly a popular species around here, although due to conservation efforts and relatively low predation rates, there is now an elk season in the Badger State, with just a handful of tags available each year. Elk were eliminated from Wisconsin in the 1880s due to over-hunting and habitat loss, however they were reintroduced in 1995, and then a few times again from 2015-2019. Mostly found in either the Clam Lake region and Black River region, the elk population is now over 500, which allows for a hunting season in both northern and central Wisconsin.
Of course, if you grew up out west, where elk populations are much larger and sighting more prevalent, the sight of elk my not give you pause, but for most of us, we’re gonna stop and take pictures.
This video comes from Yellowstone National Park, a place where folks travel from thousands of miles away to see elk. Although sometimes, you get a little more than you bargained for.
This group stumbles upon a magnificent creature who lets out a bugle and then proceeds to stand up, and start… PEEING on himself.
The ol’ elk had been sipping the horny juice, as rutting bulls will sometimes pee on themselves in order to douse themselves in their scent and attract females. My guy was just getting ready for mating season, and all of these onlookers were getting in the way. Thankfully we had the park ranger hilariously screaming at people to move along.
“Shot at Mammoth Hot Springs in Yellowstone National Park. The ranger soundtrack is great.”
You gotta love Yellowstone though, where else will an elk taking a leak on his own face cause a traffic jam?
Dumb Tourist Bugles At Rutting Bull Elk From 15 Feet Away
Not only illegal, but extremely stupid…
Video is surfacing yet again of a dumb tourist doing dumb things at Yellowstone National Park.
America’s greatest nature preserve spreads for nearly 3,500 miles across Wyoming, Montana, and Idaho and is home to a countless number of incredible natural features and wild animals. This draws in over 3 million tourists per year who hope to spot a bison, hike a remote trail, and truly experience the most raw nature this country has to offer.
But the law of large numbers means that many people are going to lead to a significant number of bad decisions being made, the latest of which may just take the cake for dumbest of them all.
As hunters of pretty much any species know, calling animals to your location is a staple. From ducks, to deer, to turkeys, there’s no shortage of companies making calls to replicate all sorts of animal cries and elk hunting is no different.
The type of call varies depending on what you’re trying to sound like, but one of the most common calls mimics the bugling of a bull elk while in the rut.
While I’ve never experienced this in person, videos alone prove it’s one of the most unique and incredible cries in all of the animal kingdom.
Here’s an example if you’ve never heard it or just want to hear it again.
Elk bugle for several different reasons, but most of them have to do with mating. September through October is when the mating season occurs.
And this haunting sound reverberates into the forests
[📹 Harry Collins: https://t.co/W7WPWQubGR]pic.twitter.com/QJU1oq5NYT
— Massimo (@Rainmaker1973) July 5, 2023
As the video description says, it’s quite haunting, especially if you’re wandering around the woods and hear that nearby.
During mating season, called the rut, elk will bugle to signal their presence to females in the area, but it also alerts competitors that they have a challenge close at hand. Most bull elk don’t like this and will try to find the other bull elk and square off with them to take control of that area.
Well, a wonderful tourist at Yellowstone decided to bring his bugle call with him while roaming the park and spotted a massive bull elk off to the side of a parking lot. I’m sure you can guess what happened next.
The idiot proceeds to walk 15 feet in front of the elk and start calling. As we discussed, elk generally take this as a challenge and prepare to throw antlers to defend their turf.
For some reason, this elk didn’t sprint over and stomp the man, who was of course recording everything on his phone, into oblivion, which he should be very grateful for, but for real what was the best case scenario there? Did you think he was going to do a little dance? Run in circles and put on a show?
Man, these people grind my gears, and since nothing bad happened, I’m sure he ran through the park continuing this insanely bad behavior.
Maybe everyone should have to sit through a class before visiting these national parks, because as we’ve seen time and time again, very bad things can happen quickly.
Massive Elk Herd Surrounds Home In Colorado Neighborhood
Imagine waking up and going out on the front porch for a morning coffee and seeing every elk that lives in your area sitting right on your front lawn. Seems crazy right?
Well, that’s pretty much what happened here.
Elk in Colorado have the highest population in the world. That means there’s just bound to be human interaction from time to time. And if you’ve ever been in Estes Park, you know they’re EVERYWHERE.
These animals are very gregarious, as they tend to live in herds. Elk herds can often be fairly large with 200-400 individuals traveling around together.
Folks in this Colorado neighborhood learned that in very weird fashion as a whole herd decided to rest right in somebody’s yard all around their house.
People driving by captured footage of the wild occurrence as the elk all lay down around the homes. There is even a massive bull elk seen sitting right at somebody’s front door.
That would certainly be shock to walk outside or come home to. I mean, what are you really going to do? It’s probably not worth trying to shoo away a massive bull elk. The consequences aren’t worth going inside.
This is some wild stuff.
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And speaking of Yellowstone, be sure to check out our Yellowstone The Soundtrack Playlist, featuring every song from every episode, all the way through Season 5.
