September, 2024
The elk came back! 🙂 How wonderful is that? You remember … in last week’s blog post, I reported that the elk were hiding across the highway in the large grassy field right next to Hood Canal. Well, the very next day, today … they came back into the campground, hiding no longer. 🙂
They didn’t come back until the afternoon, and they came in the north end of the campground (I’m camped at the very south end of the campground), so I didn’t see them until later in the afternoon when they were traveling south through the campground on their way back to highway 101, and likely back out to the grassy field for the night.
Here’s a video below. I was standing in the grassy center circle of the drive-around in my little group of campsites when I took this video. My truck and trailer are about 40 feet behind me. That fence above the elk is the edge of highway 101, hence the road noise in all of these videos.
More videos below. As the elk moved towards that grassy center circle, I moved back off of it!
In the photo below, you can see that I moved up onto the ramp that leads up to the cabin door … just to be safe. The elk were approaching the big white truck and Towhee the Trailer.
This one female (below) kept taking a few more steps even closer. I kept very quiet. But she must have gotten a whiff of me …
She was tall! The top of her head had to be about 6 feet tall. I suspect she was Clarice, the alpha female. I stayed right there on that ramp, with the guardrails around me, and simply turned my head to the left, then to the right, as they do when they are simply looking around, not being aggressive. I hoped she got the message. She seemed to! She turned her head away from me and looked at my truck and trailer some more, then slowly turned and walked away from me, not at all concerned that I was there, not looking back once to check to see where I was.
In the video below, the elk are walking towards their exit path which will take them across highway 101 and over to the grassy field along Hood Canal. At the very end of the video below, you’ll see a vehicle drive up, heading around the circle. I hollered a “hello” and waved at the two guys in the vehicle, and they stopped. I smiled at them and said something about the elk. The driver of the vehicle admitted they were going to drive by the elk and HONK the horn and scare the elk. I kept smiling, tho I didn’t feel like smiling. I said, “oh gosh, you don’t want to get caught doing that. The elk are protected wildlife and you would be arrested, I’m serious, I’ve seen people get arrested doing that.” They listened to that and seemed to take it in. We chatted amiably some more. I manged to keep them parked right there using friendship and laughter, until the elk had all gotten off the blacktop and were well on their way over the grass and beyond those two RV’s.
Photo below … the elk were heading into a stand of trees where they gather just before they walk across highway 101. Notice the picnic table on the far left of the photo below … you’ll see it again in one of the photos below.
Below … heading towards highway 101.
And then, a minute or two later, back at that picnic table that I mentioned above … here come the two younger male elk. I never saw them right next to the other members of the herd but they were always somewhere nearby.
The main part of the herd seemed to be waiting there in the woods for the rest of them to catch up before they headed up and over highway 101.
What a thrill to be able to be so close to these wild animals, any one of whom can kill a human easily although that’s extremely rare. Roosevelt elk grow to around 5 to 5.5 feet tall at the withers, their heads are from 6 feet to 7 feet tall when they are alert and standing upright. The bulls weigh between 700 and 1,200 pounds. Cows weigh between 575 and 625 pounds. The length of the body of an adult will be between six feet and ten feet long. That’s a LOT bigger than I am!! They look so docile here, but if they feel threatened they can be aggressive faster than you know it, and one kick of their front or rear hooves can kill a human. It really was a thrill to be accepted by them (as long as I kept my distance and acted appropriately).
My momma taught me to respect and honor and love all beings. It sure was easy to do that with these elk. It felt like they were doing the same with me. What a wonderful experience. Seemed like all these elk wanted was a safe place in the woods.
Wow, how cool was that! Fascinating!
Thanks Shawn. I sure loved it!
No wonder Clarice was looking at your truck and trailer, and wanted to get closer and check them out, they are the most beautiful RV setup in the campground! She’s one smart elk. 🙂
Ha! 🙂 Thank you Ruth. I read your comment to the truck and trailer and they are MOST appreciative.
Good that you were there when they came through. You can’t plan these things can you. This was super. I like that last video song.
Nope, can’t plan this stuff. I might have been off seeing something else this afternoon and would have missed the elk completely. Luck of the draw sometimes. Thanks Bill.
It’s a wonderful experience when you get to be up close and personal with something wild. I get that with birds, sometimes…and this summer with a mama deer and her twins. She trusts me as long as I move slow and don’t get too close. Though she lets me pretty close. When she’s had enough of me taking pictures she just turns around and walks away. She shows up almost every morning with the kids in tow, to see what birdseed I might have accidently dropped.
I love your elk experiences. Profound. Those two in the truck, I hope they learn, someday, how to respect the world around them.
Your bird encounters are so stupendous, Dawn. I love them as much as I love these elk encounters. You are so patient and careful and watchful. I’ve slowed down when walking in the wild because of you, and I’m seeing more! Hmm, “accidentally dropped” eh? 🙂
Good of you to use smiles and humor to try to teach those guys something, they need teaching. Great photos and videos. And, yes, it’s no wonder that elk was interested in your rig, best looking one in the campground. Interesting about the two young male elk, you’ve mentioned them before, that they stay separate, but close. Fascinating. Thank you.
Oh I hope those guys learned something. I tried to be kind, tho I wanted to smack them in the head and then ask them how THAT felt. Glad you’re here, Joe. 🙂
How wonderful. And I love the song at the end. May every being on the planet find a safe place in the woods, or on a beach, or in the air, or in the ocean, wherever we belong and wherever our hearts are.
What a wonderful comment, how very well said! Thank you Jamie, I hope the same.
Oh my word, in all the years we’ve been RVing we never were this close to elk or other wildlife, ok maybe birds but not big wildlife. What a thrill even just to read it and see it on your blog. Do the elk skid when they walk or run on the blacktop? They don’t seem to in the videos, but we both assumed they would.
Wanda, when I first saw the elk walking towards blacktop when I was here a few years ago, I got scared that they would all slip and fall and break bones. But amazingly they don’t. They seem to have very sure footing even on the blacktop. I have a video of them trotting, walking VERY swiftly, on blacktop that I’ll share in an upcoming blog post. They had no problem doing that. I had two horses in my youth, they could skid around a bit on pavement … but these elk seem to have no problem.
You are so gentle with the elk. It’s no wonder they trust you and want to walk over to you. On the other hand, I laughed at all the photos of elk butts! 🙂 And yet that proves they trust you. On yet another hand, I didn’t realize how big they are!! wow! You still just treat them with kindness and lots of respect. I wish you ruled the world. Let’s keep sharing this idea of the world, maybe someday we’ll reach those guys in that truck so they can be at peace too.
Oh, thank you Greg. 🙂 I do wish I could teach, that we could all teach, all of the people in the world to be kind to each other and to all creatures, and to the earth. Ok, if I’m ever elected to be ruler of the world, I’m making you a ruler of the world too!
Ha and yes, so many elk butts! 🙂
Thank you, I sure needed this love of the planet and all in it today. The music of Lucie Blue has always been important to me, is she still making music? Thank you for playing that. Oh, just read Greg’s comment, right on! Thanks Ann. Yep, love those elk butts. 🙂
Isn’t Lucie Blue great? Yes she’s still making music although I think she’s mostly playing concerts in Canada, where she has always lived. I saw her in concert many decades ago. 🙂 Great memories.
Those are pretty docile elk to be wandering in and out among the people. Nice to see them up so close.
When I first saw the elk here, several years ago, I was amazed how cool and calm they were around people. I suppose they have acclimated over the years here at Dosewallips, but still … it’s amazing to me too, FG. On the other hand, I did see a bunch of them turn and start walking quite purposefully towards a dog who was barking and lunging at them (with an owner who didn’t curtail the dog), so I suspect these elk are still very much wild and will protect themselves when needed.
Fascinating. The photos, your story, and the comments. Great blog! And yes, the music at the end was super. 🙂
Thanks Eileen. 🙂