Elk: It was a moose-take!
Photo courtesy of IDAHO DEPARTMENT OF FISH AND GAME An elk stands in the basement of a Hailey home after crashing through a window well. It’s the second time in less than a week that a big game animal dropped in this way at a home in this town.
Another snow-challenged big game animal was caught breaking and entering a central Idaho home.
Five days after a moose crashed through a window well and landed in the basement of a Hailey residence, an elk made a similar appearance Feb. 2 at another home in the same town.
“We wish we were making this up, folks,” said a post on Idaho Fish and Game’s webpage for the region.
The latest ungulate trapped in a basement was convinced to vacate the home by Fish and Game Conservation Officer Lee Greenwood. Greenwood used a hockey stick he found in the basement as a negotiation tool, and smacked the elk on the rump.
The Wood River Valley, a region of Blaine County in south-central Idaho where Hailey is the county seat, has seen heavy snowfall this winter.
Local law enforcement and Fish and Game report the snow is driving big game animals into residential areas in search of food.
“I suppose we should say it. If you live in the Wood River Valley, cover your window wells or you could end up with an unexpected intruder,” said wildlife officials on the webpage.