some pics my buddy sent me > > RENO, Nev. (AP) -- It's not all checking hunting and fishing licenses. >Sometimes the issues are bigger. Like when a Nevada game warden was handed >the chore of figuring out how to separate two bull elk who locked horns >while sparring and couldn't untangle them. > > The saga began Nov. 21 when a rancher in Reese River Valley spotted the >two elk. > > By the following day, the animals were gone and the rancher assumed they >had separated. > > A week later, according to Nevada Division of Wildlife biologist Tom >Donham, the rancher was out looking for some of his cows and saw the elk >again. > > This time, he called the wildlife department and Donham, game warden >Brian Eller and Bureau of Land Management wildlife biologist Bryson Code >headed out to see what they could do. > > When they reached Indian Valley, south of Austin, it was Nov. 29, one >week after the elk were first seen. > > "When we arrived where the rancher had last seen them, we found them >pretty quickly. They were both lying on the ground and one of them was in a >very uncomfortable looking position with his head directly above the others >head and his nose pointing straight up to the sky," Donham said. Eller said >he wondered if they had survived their ordeal. > > "Once we found out they were alive, I was hoping they couldn't move and >would stay where they were. That didn't happen. When they ran off, I was >hoping that they could not go very far. That didn't happen either," he >said. > > The elk may have been sparring at the outset, but Donham and Eller say >they used teamwork to run for nearly a mile to evade the newcomers. "It >looked like they had been doing it all their lives; serious cooperation if >I've ever seen it," Donham said. > > After two unsuccessful attempts, Donham was able to get a tranquilizer >dart into one of the elk. With one down, the other could not run, but was >also partially tranquilized in order to separate the two. > > Eller and Code helped hold the elk down while Donham used a hand saw to >remove part of an antler off one of them. > > "As soon as they were apart, the bull that hadn't gotten a full dose >jumped to his feet and Bryson, Brian and I quickly gave him all the room he >wanted. He went off about 30 yards and lay down for about 10 minutes before >finally walking up the hill and over the ridge, none the worse for wear" >Donham said. > > The other elk was treated with antibiotics and eventually walked off as >well after the tranquilizer had worn off. > > "If these two bulls had not been discovered, and we never got the call, >they more than likely would have both died. Watching the bulls walk away, >and knowing that we likely saved them from a slow death was definitely one >of those moments that makes this job rewarding."? >
Are those pix from the Oak Creek Feeding Station near Naches? It's an impressive sight this time of year! SuperDave
