This sizable bull elk in Estes Park, Colorado let the rutting season get the best of him and almost picked a fight with an elk that probably wouldn’t have done much to fight back.
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, and one of the more popular places they visit is Estes Park, Colorado.
If you’ve never been, I’d highly recommend a trip there. The little mountain town acts as base camp for Rocky Mountain National Park, and it’s got everything you could possibly want out of a mountain vacation. Especially if you are trying to see some wildlife.
Elk are typically abundant in and around the Estes Park area.
Elk might seem like the peaceful, grazing type, but they can turn it on in an instant if the situation calls for it. They’ll throw down – or rather, throw antlers – at any place, at any time. That’s certainly true during the elk rut, which typically extends from early/middle of September to the middle of October. If you happen to live in elk country, you know that it’s best to avoid elk during this time.
It’s normal for bull elk to be more aggressive and vocal from September to November. They starting “acting up” during that period of time to establish dominance, and in hopes of securing a female mate. This bull was so enthralled by the season’s pheromones that he almost picked a fight with an elk that was standing as still as a statue.
That’s because it was a statue.
In the video below shared by Colorado Wild Photography, a bull elk was initially chasing another male when they both came upon a wooden elk statute. The first bull ran right by it, but the second one – that was in hot pursuit – was curious as to why this particular elk was standing so tall, and so still.
How did the bull elk respond? By lowering its antlers and charging at the inanimate object. In its defense, it’s a beautiful and very realistic looking piece of art. It was obviously convincing enough for this bull elk to launch an attack… and eventually figure out that the bull elk it was going after wasn’t going to counter:
“This big boy really tried to pick a fight with a wooden elk statue this morning.”
That’s a tough look for the bull elk. Hopefully none of the prospective female elk saw him get bamboozled by the statue. I can’t imagine that would help his cause.
Social media got a kick out of the bull elk being a “fool elk” (thanks, I’ll be here all week). They left comments below the post cracking jokes and sharing their observations of the elk vs. statue standoff:
“I bet he still walked away feeling like a winner.”
“Looks like he figured it out in the end though.”
“He was like, ‘Put your horns down here and fight like a man.'”
“Easiest fight he ever won.”
“This guy’s hormones are looking for a fight with anybody or anything.”
