Elk are out in full force throughout the national parks, drawing in park visitors who want to take pictures of their impressive racks and intimidating size. But as anyone who lives in a state with a lot of elk, bulls are wary of people getting into their space no matter what. In Rocky Mountain National Park, one picture-taking tourist found out what happens firsthand when you get too close to such a sizeable antlered animal. Instagram account @touronsofyellowstone, a page dedicated to everything you shouldn't do while visiting national parks, posted a video of the close encounter.
In the clip, a crowd of park visitors is standing on a pathway watching a large bull elk sauntering along on the other side of a fence. At first, the elk doesn't pay much attention to the throng of people snapping photos of him and his impressive rack. But it doesn't take long for him to decide he is done with their shenanigans. As he approaches the fence, most of the people move out of the way. However, one man stays near the fence and pauses to take another picture as the elk faces him. The elk clears the fence railing like it isn't even there, landing right in front of the man. There's a scramble to escape as other tourists quickly take refuge behind bushes or hightail it in the other direction.
Having proved his point, the elk walks away from the crowd for a more peaceful pasture. Viewers of the video online agreed that it was a close call for all involved. One wrote, "That elk jumped from a standstill. If he wanted those folks, they'd be a statistic!" Another wrote, "That little girl who starts dragging her Dad away as soon as the elk starts walking towards them is the only one with some sense."
They're not wrong. Fence or not, they were too close to that elk and needed to back it up.
