This video of elk running off into the sunset is as picturesque as it gets.
I don’t know about you, but I’m always here for a viral clip of an animal herd running together in a way that makes them appear like a river of living beings. That might sound like a specific genre of video, but trust me, they are more common than you might think.
If you don’t believe me, you are welcome to check into this traffic jam that was caused by bison, or feel free to watch this video of a parade of elk running across a Montana highway. Those that live out in the middle of nature unsurprisingly cross paths with it more often. And if were lucky, they get their handy dandy phone out and record it all for the rest of us to enjoy.
Like with this footage out of Lehi, Utah that showed a confused elk herd in need of some guidance after they got themselves stuck outside Viewpoint Middle School. The town of Lehi has seen its population grow in recent years, as it’s conveniently located between the bigger metropolitan areas of Salt Lake City and Provo. It’s still considered to be pretty rural, so residents see plenty of elk in the area (it’s estimated that the state of Utah is home to over 80,000 elk).
At some point early in the morning, the large grouping of elk had ran near the building and the fencing and the school itself disoriented the herd. They quickly became stuck in a portion of the campus and began running in circles as they were unsure of where to go. School staff stepped in and were successfully able to encourage and guide them towards “freedom.” Soon after they had all come to a screeching halt, one of the leaders of the herd found the way out past the school and into an adjacent open field.
The rest followed.
Elk are known to run up to 40 miles per hour, though the herd in this video did a lot of starting and stopping before they started to reach their top speed dashing towards the sunset. I’m sure once the large group of elk really got moving – to wherever elk run – they were really able to let the engine run wide open. Yes, I know that’s a more mechanical reference, but we measure stuff in horsepower, don’t we? What’s wrong with a little elk-power?
If you were wondering if that’s a normal amount of elk to be included in a herd, let’s just say it’s not out of the ordinary. Herds have been known to be made up by around 400 elk, especially during the summer months. Feel free to take the time to count how many elk were a part of this grouping… but I think it’s safe to estimate that this herd was close to that number (you can check this story out if you want to see a never-ending stream of elk).
And it was beautiful to watch them run off into the sunset like the ending of an old western film:
