What’s as fast as a horse, as tough as a bull and so angry it will take on a semi truck?

You got it, the male elk during rut season.

Parks Canada officials are warning the public to be extra cautious around bull elk this time of year as they enter their mating season.

The bull elk, easily identified this time of year as the large antlered animals bigger than a deer, can become extremely aggressive between the end of August and mid to late October, sometimes getting so enraged that they will charge at anything that moves.

Jasper National Park wildlife conflict officer Steve Malcolm suggests staying a minimum of 30 metres from the large males, although he emphasizes that is the minimum, and warns that they can charge from as far away as 60-80 metres.

“They have no respect for people anymore, zero respect for animals,” he says. “If you see a bull elk starting to paw the ground, he’s doing a head shake where he’s waving his antlers back and forth, that’s a pretty significant sign that he’s about to charge.”

Malcolm says it’s incredibly surprising how they switch from the most docile of animals to something that will take on just about anything, including vehicles. “Hiding in the vehicle is not always a solution,” he says, stating that he’s seen elk put holes through vehicle windows and doors.

He compares the elk to dogs play fighting and getting all worked up, then when something else comes by, they remain aggressive towards anything that comes near.

“Usually at night they’ll be scrapping with all the different bulls in that area trying to maintain that harem, and then they just get into that enraged state.”

Getting between a bull elk and the harem can also lead to very aggressive behaviour, so Malcolm advises to be careful if a group of females are on one side of a road and you are pulled over, while the bull elk is on the other side.

Another issue that often creates trouble with bull elk during the rut season is people walking their dog off a leash. Elk have a natural aggression towards anything like small canines, big canines, coyotes and wolves, Malcolm says, and if your dog is not on a leash and goes running into a field after a bull elk, he is going to chase that dog right back to you.

Malcolm and other wildlife officers and park wardens have been busy putting up signs educating people about the elk rut, as well as making sure the male elk don’t come into town.

Once predators and other animals such as bears and wolves start moving to lower elevations, the female elk are forced into the town site where there are some ideal open areas such as in front of the Parks Canada info building and near schools.

As the females come in, the male follows.

“They really are a challenge to move. I have to move the harem, not the bull, and the bull slowly migrates out. It becomes a little more challenging in town.”

Malcolm says that usually the female elk are in town almost every morning, which means Malcolm or other parks officials are up trying to get them out of town before the kids start walking to school and bikes are out on the town.

However, over the last few days, there haven’t been too many problems. “Our hazing routine has some effect, and sometimes the cows just don’t feel like coming in.”

Malcolm says they’ve always thought that in the natural world they would never hurt each other, but even last year he says they had two bulls fighting when one got an advantage and pushed the other into the lake and killed it.