Kind person helps elk with swing stuck on antlers.
Heartwarming story out of Maggie Valley, North Carolina where a good Samaritan came to the aid of elk in need.
Elk were once abundant in North Carolina but over-hunting and habitat loss wiped out herds in the east. In 2001, the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation, The National Park Service and other partners worked in conjunction to restore a wild elk population to the Smoky Mountains in the Cataloochee Valley near Maggie Valley. 52 elk were initially released and their numbers have grown to a herd of almost 200.
Haley Swats came upon a Maggie Valley elk that had had swing stuck on its antlers for four days. Wildlife management was aware of the situation but were unable to help the distressed animal. Haley called her dad and the pair approached the elk with apples to entice it and knife to cut the swing away when it was close enough.
Full story: so 3 days ago we were on our way to breakfast when we saw elk #014 with something large stuck to his antlers. Come to find out hes had it stuck on his antlers for 4 days. The game warden and wildlife management had been notified 100s of times. We passed him twice today (10/14/24) and he was laying in the same spot trying to sleep but being woken up because he couldnt get comfortable with that stuck on his antlers. Both times we passed today we spoke to multiple people who had personally called on him and everyone reported the same thing. They couldnt help him because its rutting season, they said if they try to tranquillize him it could kill him because of the adrenaline he already has pumping (or something?). When we pulled back up with razors and more apples the wildlife management pulled up and said that he could possibly taze the elk while my husband cut it off (i did not like that idea). So when my dad got there he told the wildlife managment that we would try it like this and he stayed there with 911 dialed on his phone 😂😫 DO NOT TRY THIS AT HOME, it is extremely dangerous to appoach elk. Here in Maggie Valley, they say to stay back 50-100 yards to respect the animals space and we are in full support of that rule. This was a very sad/unique situation that needed immediate attention. He was unable to hold his head up and he was swaying as he walked. Thank God no humans were harmed and mr. 014 got freed from the swing, harm free. 🤎🏔️ #maggievalleync#maggievalley#wnc#elk#animalrescue#wildliferescue#wildlifelover
The elk was successfully freed from the unwanted encumbrance and no one was hurt during its removal. While we do not encourage approaching elk, the extenuating circumstances of this situation seem to make their actions justified.
“DO NOT TRY THIS AT HOME, it is extremely dangerous to approach elk. Here in Maggie Valley, they say to stay back 50-100 yards to respect the animals space and we are in full support of that rule. This was a very sad/unique situation that needed immediate attention. He was unable to hold his head up and he was swaying as he walked. Thank God no humans were harmed and Mr. #014 got freed from the swing, harm free.”-Haley Swats
