LA GARITA, Colo. – A young male elk was rescued recently by two Colorado Parks and Wildlife officers in southern Colorado.
The bull became stuck up to its neck in a deep mudhole. Video footage shows the elk covered all the way up to its antlers with mud from earlier attempts to escape the mud.
ELK’S DING-DONG DITCH CAPTURED ON CAMERA
The U.S. Forest Service notified Colorado Parks and Wildlife about the animal.
CPW officers William Miedema and Tyler Cerny responded to the incident. They determined that the elk was able to move its legs and head, thereby needing a little pulling force to be rescued.
Miedema and Cerny first attempted to extract the animal by hand. They grabbed onto the bull’s antlers, but were unable to pull him out due to his hefty weight.
WATCH: ‘STRESSED” BULL ELK CHARGES AT A PHOTOGRAPHER IN ESTES PARK, COLORADO
According to Colorado Parks and Wildlife spokesperson John Livingston, the animal weighed between 400 and 600 pounds.
The officers then placed two ratchet straps around the base of the elk’s antlers and connected them to the back of a four-wheeler.
“The antlers were the only option in this case without putting any CPW staff at further risk,” Livingston said. He noted that the antlers are one of the strongest parts on the elk.
In the video, the ATV could be heard revving up as it tried to pull the elk out of the mud. After a few attempts using the four-wheeler, the officers were able to pull the animal out of the mudhole.
According to Livingston, this bull may have fallen into the mudhole by breaking through a small patch of ice. He noted that similar incidents in which elk fall through ice and into lakes and ponds do occasionally occur in the winter.