doublerack
Active Member
I'm sure this story has made the rounds, but for anyone that hasn't seen or heard it, here is the email I got.
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."
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."
