Posted on 02/01/2008 2:06:43 PM PST by GSWarrior
The Colorado Division of Wildlife may be forced to kill an elk that surprised De Beque-area outfitter David Furr when it ran inside his dining room Thursday.
“If it continues to show no fear of humans, we’re going to be forced to put it down,” DOW spokesman Randy Hampton said.
An elk that had been reclining next to a fireplace on Furr’s porch sprinted for his dining room through an open door while he was bringing in firewood Thursday morning.
The animal had been hanging out around the house for about a week, Furr said, and he became concerned about its health.
While he was picking up the firewood, “it ran up into the dining room and busted (its) butt and couldn’t get up,” Furr said. “It fell down on the hardwood floor. It couldn’t stand up on that slick surface.”
Once the elk had fallen, Furr said he left the door open and put a blanket over the elk. The animal stayed on the floor for about 30 minutes before it ran back outside and huddled again by the fireplace.
Not a single piece of china was disturbed, and no furniture was touched when the elk ran inside and fell to the floor.
“Me being in the hunting business all my life, I never had an elk on my porch,” he said.
Furr said he first noticed the elk hanging around his yard about a week ago. It was leaving behind feces on his sidewalk.
“She’s obviously been coming here every night,” he said.
After the elk ran into the house Thursday, Furr called the DOW, but officers did not visit his house to investigate.
Hampton said officers did not respond to the call because they had no concerns about the elk as long as no one fed it.
“It will leave again,” he said. “It will go find food. The snow in De Beque is not at a depth where it cannot find natural forage.”
But if the elk doesn’t leave and becomes aggressive, the DOW will be forced to kill the elk, Hampton said.
Many people around Bass Lake have fed elk before, giving the elk little reason to look for natural food and encouraging them to approach humans, he said.
“The best thing this guy can do is chase it off,” Hampton said.
Furr said the elk needs help because she’s getting weaker as time goes on.
“We want to help her if we can,” he said, adding that killing the elk isn’t necessary.
“They need to be told they need a court order before they come on private property and get an elk,” Furr said. “They make plenty of money. All the elk needs is a shot of penicillin and food and water.”
Hampton said elk can be dangerous if they get too close to humans.
“These are big animals, they’re wild animals, and people need to leave them alone,” Hampton said.
Thank you for the photos!
LOL! Too true!
The cow elk probably just wanted a closer look at the 18 point bull elk head mounted over the fireplace....when it didn’t make a move on her...she left.
They should give that elk one of the squeezable balls.
Beats stress for me.
A few years ago I came up with the thought that Santa Claus needed to replace his tiny reindeer with elk because of the increase in number of Christmas presents modern children were getting. Al Smith said that would be all fine & good until that herd of elk landed on your roof.
So its not your aunt mounted and hanging on the wall?!
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