Living with Elk

Living in the Banff has special challenges sometimes, after all the town is surrounded by National Park.  The animals don’t know what is inside the Park and what is outside.  They also don’t necessarily know the townsite from wilderness. So when you live in Banff sometimes your encounters with wildlife can be unusual.
 
I have lived both in the downtown area and on the edge of the wildlife corridors. No matter where you live it is fairly common to see elk and deer in your garden.  We tried to nurture a crabapple tree very close to our house thinking that the elk would not be interested in it.  Every second year a bull elk would come by, give it a sniff and sometimes nibble the fruit for a taste.  I don’t know if he was disappointed by the taste or if he was just plain clumsy, but twice he managed to get his antlers caught in the branches and then thrashed around to get himself free.  The tree always comes off second best and now it has the weirdest shape with no discernible trunk as branches have grown at odd angles to compensate for the big holes created.
 
Being held up by an elk is sometimes used as an excuse to be late for work. Sounds silly?  Wait until you have a 700lb bull elk sitting in your driveway and then imagine trying to shoo it away! Elk are often seen on our Banff Tour and Evening Wildlife Safari. Please do not ever approach elk, no matter how docile they seem.

Submitted by Rick Bulich, Sales & Marketing Manager, Discover Banff Tours.