Elk in the Yard

Wednesday morning as I walked out to the garage to get the car, I heard a crunching noise coming from the forest. Since we've had a fair bit of ice, initially I thought that it might be ice and snow falling from the trees. After I stopped to listen for 30 seconds, though, I realized that the sound was somewhat periodic and was probably an animal walking through the woods.

I stood still for another minute, just listening and watching. My patience was rewarded when an elk walked out of the woods and into the yard not 50 feet from me! I stood still and just admired her as she gradually walked away from me and toward the fence to the north.

I walked inside to tell Corinne, but she was already watching. Soon after the first elk was joined by a second on the other side of the fence.

We've seen plenty of elk around these parts, typically in large herds. We're even fairly certain that elk have passed through our property - breaking a fence post on the way. But we hadn't actually seen any elk on our property until now.

- Mike, Corinne, and Anders Rocket