Where I live in N AZ there is a very large and
healthy population of elk, I mean BIG elk, they make the CO elk look like
deer.
I see them almost daily except in the winter.
More often than not I will come across a few every ride. We don't bother
eachother, and its fun to be able to get quite close to them (being on
horseback). They usually slowly move away, sometimes they will crash thru
the trees, but more often they aren't very concerned.
I have a neighbor whose horse was attacked and
pretty badly gored by an elk a few years back (when she was boarding her horses
in a large pasture). I guess it was ruting season and he was being
territorial, but I was surprised to hear they would do that! Some dry
summer morning my horses will have a small herd of elk standing on the other
side of their dry lot watching them eat. Makes me nervous, but so far no
problems. I do think the elk jump the fence to drink out of the tank in
the pasture during dry summers when water is scarce.
Has anyone else had an experience with elk
attacking horses? I hope this is a relatively rare occurance, I rather
enjoy them!
Kathy Kelly
Parks AZ
ps We have black bear and mtn lion too, I've been
riding remote trails here for 5 yrs now and never seen a sign of either, but I
know they're around!
