There’s a certain assumed risk that you accept when you drive your car around in areas that are populated with wild animals. Most of the national parks throughout the United States would be good examples. And another would be Estes Park, Colorado (which is immediately adjacent to Rocky Mountain National Park).
In case you didn’t know, Estes Park is considered to be the “Elk Capital of the World.” It’s estimated that over 280,000 elk live in Colorado, which is enough to give the state the honor of housing the largest concentrated population of elk in the world. Believe it or not, that many elk bring in tourists from all over the planet, particularly to the Estes Park area.
The family in this video below – which was posted a couple of years ago but recently posted again by Tourons of National Parks – got the full Estes Park experience as they got way too close to a rutting elk. The driver of the vehicle, presumably named Jack (you’ll see why that’s safe to presume in a second), drove the car right up next to bull elk that seemed to be a little ticked off. If this video was taken during rutting season, that’s all the explanation that’s necessary.
All of the passengers had their windows rolled down to take in the beauty of the area, and the wild, antlered animal to their immediate right. But things turned ugly when the elk got startled, and once its fight-or-flight response kicked in, it chose the fight option and charged right at the front of the vehicle.
That prompted this hilarious exchange between a man named jack and what I’m assuming is his wife:
“Jack – No! Don’t you hit this vehicle.
Wife? – Back up Jack. Back up, Jack. Back UP, JACK!
Jack – Back up where?
Wife – Jack! Go, go, go! F***ing back up the car what are you doing?
Jack – Just be quiet.
Wife – Well you don’t just sit here when the thing is charging us! You don’t just stand here!”
Absolutely hilarious.
That’s the type of video that’s always worth revisiting. There’s just something about hearing an older couple bickering while navigating an elk attack that just checks all of the right boxes. And fortunately for them, the bull elk pulled up before its antlers made contact with the front right portion of the vehicle. The big ol’ animal let out a bugle immediately afterwards… and I don’t speak elk, but I think it was also saying, “Back up Jack.”
Only because the National Park Service’s guidelines still apply while you are in a car. The NPS recommends that tourists stay at least 25 yards away from what they call non-dangerous animals like elk, and that buffer zone extends to 1oo yards for animals like bears and wolves. I hate to say this… but Jack’s wife was probably right. Not only should he have been backing up, Jack shouldn’t have ever gotten that close in the first place.
If you somehow can’t remember the 25 and 100 yard rules… just try to remember these wise words if you find yourself near wildlife: “BACK UP JACK!”
