New video. Bull elk went golfing, did ‘some thrifting’ while visiting Tri-Cities this week
A bull elk visited the Tri-Cities last weekend wandering on a Pasco golf course, getting a snack near Hanford High School and even being spotted outside a Goodwill.
After a couple days, Washington state Department of Fish and Wildlife police tracked him down and found a new home for him.
Richland residents started snapping photos of the animal Sept. 18 near Hanford High.
Cheyenne LaViolette was driving down a hill toward Hanford High when she saw the elk that morning just before she reached George Washington Way.
She was shocked to see the animal in the city, she said.
“He was just staring at me,” she said, but as she scrambled to take a picture he turned away.
She called police, concerned that such a huge animal appeared to be ready to cross George Washington Way, potentially hurting himself and anyone in a car that might hit him.
It was not the only call police received that morning about the elk. One of LaViolette’s co-workers at the school told her she also called.
Cheyenne LaViolette snapped this photo of a bull elk on Sept. 18, 2024, near the corner of Smartpark Street and George Washington Way, near Hanford High School, in Richland.
Then Saturday, golfers in Pasco interrupted their game to stop and watch what appeared to be the same elk trotting across the Sun Willows Golf Course, silhouetted against the skyline.
On Sunday morning, the elk was spotted on the other side of Interstate 182 at the Goodwill parking lot on Court Street in Pasco.
At that point, Fish and Wildlife officers were called.
“Whether the elk took a wrong turn or just wanted to do some thrifting is still unclear,” the agency joked on social media.
This bull elk, recently spotted wandering around Pasco, was darted and immobilized for relocation. Its antlers were removed to prevent injury to the animal during transport to a wildlife refuge.
One person had seen the elk wander off to a nearby orchard. Fish and Wildlife officers found him near the yard of Trevor Macduff.
Fish and Wildlife police were concerned about the elk’s safety, given interstate and other traffic.
They also were concerned that he could be a danger to people. Bull elk weigh an average of 600 to 700 pounds.
Washington Department of Fish & Wildlife police and Washington State Patrol prepare to relocate a bull elk that was roaming around Pasco. It was darted, immobilized and its antlers removed to prevent possible injury to the animal during transport for relocation to a wildlife refuge.
There were reports of people and a dog getting close to the elk, said Becky Elder of the agency.
Fish and Wildlife officers tranquilized the elk using a dart. He made it to Macduff’s yard before he collapsed, immobilized.
The Macduffs had just come outside to do some chores.
“We got to have an adventure instead of cleaning up the yard,” Trevor Macduff said.
Washington Department of Fish & Wildlife police prepare to relocate a bull elk that was recently roaming around Pasco. It was darted and immobilized in Trevor Macduff’s yard in Pasco. The elk’s antlers removed to prevent possible injury to the animal during transport for relocation the Hanford Reach National Monument.
Officers loaded the elk on a tarp so they could pull him across the grass to an enclosed trailer for a ride out of town.
His 2-by-3 point antlers were sawed off to prevent the elk from harming himself in the trailer.
Washington Department of Fish & Wildlife police prepare to relocate a bull elk that was recently roaming around Pasco. It was darted and immobilized in Trevor Macduff’s yard in Pasco. The elk’s antlers removed to prevent possible injury to the animal during transport for relocation the Hanford Reach National Monument.
But then got a ride to the Hanford Reach National Monument northwest of the Tri-Cities.
Once there, another drug was used to reverse the immobilization, and he was released.
The elk, with a new yellow tag on his ear, is shown with antlers missing and his teeth showing in what looks like a grin in a Fish and Wildlife social media post.
The tag will be used to follow the elk and see if he again visits an urban area, Elder said. Fish and Wildlife officials also wanted to track him because of the drug in his system.
At times male elk will head out on their own, Elder said.
A pair of bull elk on the Hanford Nuclear Site near Richland, WA in August, 2022
There is no way of knowing for certain where the elk came from, but about 1,600 elk roam Department of Energy Hanford site land, including the Arid Lands Ecology Reserve of the national monument, according to U.S. Fish and Wildlife estimates.
The reserve south of Highway 24 and west of Highway 240 includes Rattlesnake Mountain. The elk also cross Highway 240 and are commonly seen roaming the former production portion of the nuclear reservation down to the Columbia River.
Fish and Wildlife says people who come upon an elk should give it space to retreat.
No wildlife should be fed, to make sure they stay wild, Elder said.
For injured or dangerous wildlife incidents, call Washington state Department of Fish and Wildlife Police at 877-933-9847.
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