Earlier this month, South Jackson Game Warden Kyle Lash received a call from a landowner about an elk that had gotten its antlers tangled in a rope on their property west of Jackson. Lash responded to find a young bull elk that had been stuck in a rope the landowner was using to support their trees. Fortunately, the situation didn't require tranquilizing the animal as Lash was able to safely get close enough to cut the rope, freeing the elk from the tree. While the elk did a number on the tree, somewhat surprisingly, it had not injured itself in the process and was able to run free once it realized it was no longer tied to the tree. 

While this situation ended well, it serves as another reminder that we constantly have wild animals moving about our valley and we need to do our best to minimize conflict with them. This means everything from cleaning up any unnecessary items an animal may get tangled in, to keeping our pets under strict control, to driving slowly on our roadways and so on. We generally do a good job of co-existing with wildlife, but we can always do better with a little mindfulness.