(Note...the elk have been hanging around of late so I thought I would republish a story of their adventures from this exact time last year. I'm just finishing up my handmade Christmas gifts...I just might make it!)
Do you have slugs that nibble on your lettuce? Caterpillars eating holes in your cabbage? Rabbits tasting your spinach? Beetles that devour you crops?
Well how about these for garden pests?
ELK!!!
You can't make them do anything they don't want to do. If they want to get in the garden, well that is absolutely what they are going to do. If they want to rub their antlers on your trees and break large limbs off, yep they're gonna do that too! Deer are just small fry compared to these big beasts!
See that fence post? It used to have a tree staked to it...they ate it...down to the ground!
Elk and the Buick!
Ahhh a young one!
Note: excuse the photo quality, all these shots were taken through our windows. With the amount of noise my kids were making if I had opened a door the elk would have bolted like the wind. They are very jittery creatures under most circumstances but it is elk season and so they seemed extra nervous.
Boys will be boys...
Gotcha!!!
Spikes...
Last year they got into the garden just in time to either eat or stomp all of the pumpkins in the pumpkin patch. They love my ornamental pear trees. Roses are like candy to them.
Fortunately the herd (40 to 60 head) only come through a few time a year. They scare off easily if you happen to see them. They hate the camel and don't venture on the side of the property where Gizmo resides...I think he freaks them out! He actually stampeded them once, what a sight seeing a camel chasing a herd of elk down the hill. They didn't quit running until they were to the property two neighbors away, lol!
I will admit though that they may be big pests but they are sure a lot cuter than a slug or beetle!
