An elk in Colorado spent two years in the woods with a heavy tire around its neck – now rangers are able to free it from the burden. However, in order to do so, he had to come up with another solution.
It took rangers four attempts before they were able to help the animal: a tire had been hanging around the neck of a deer in the US state of Colorado for two years. Now the Rangers were successful in freeing him from it.
However, two rangers Dawson Swanson and Scott Murdoch had to chop off horns during the action on Saturday, state authority Colorado Parks and Wildlife reported on Monday. Earlier, young deer aged about four and a half years and weighing over 270 kg had to be taken out of a pack of 40 animals and stunned. The elk was first seen with a hoop around the neck in July 2019.
Two park rangers estimated that the elk had lost about 16 kilograms by removing its horns and tires. “The tire was full of wet pine needles and dirt,” Murdoch said. There was about five kilograms of garbage in the tire.
Murdoch said, in fact, they preferred to cut the tire and didn’t want to remove the antlers—for the elk’s rut activities. But it was not possible to cut the steel in the tyre. Luckily, there was still a little room for the neck to move around. There was only a small wound under the tire of the animal – and the hair was a little worn out.
Residents should keep properties free of obstructions
Colorado Parks and Wildlife states that young deer either calf or get a hoop around its neck in winter. The curious animal may have stuck its head in a pile of tires. Game rangers have already observed how small deer, bears and other wild animals get caught in swings, hammocks, clothes lines, soccer goals or volleyball nets – and stick their heads into objects they then run away from. Huh. Therefore residents should keep their property free from obstructions.
Vapitis can weigh up to 450 kg. The horns reach a length of up to 1.50 m and weigh up to 15 kg. Every year from February onwards, horns made of bone are shed. They grow again by late summer to demonstrate the wearer’s strength and health during the rut in autumn.
