Scott Hayes, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter | [email protected]
Those strings of festive lights in your front yard are meant to inspire thoughts of peace and goodwill towards one and all.
That’s why it’s important to keep the height of elk antlers in mind. To demonstrate that point, Jasper National Park resource conservation manager Dave Argument offered two photos of a bull elk with his antlers fully entangled in a string of Christmas lights.
“If you want to decorate a Christmas, that's great. If you can keep your lights to your buildings and fences and fixed solid things like that that have a less chance of droopy loops of lights the way you would get on bushes, that's probably safer,” he said.
If you must extend the wires and cords from solid structures over open spaces and onto trees or fences, it’s best to keep their height as far above ground as possible.
“It's also great to actually take your Christmas lights down after the holiday season,” Argument said.
It was actually during the rut when that bull elk got its antlers all bedecked with a tangled knot of lights on a wire.
Elk will try to scrape the velvet off their antlers as they get ready for the rut. Doing this means that they will rattle the bushes and trees fighting with the vegetation, creating a much higher risk of them becoming entangled in light strings left up year-round.
During the winter, some animals will still be out searching for food around trees, leading to further opportunities for entanglements.
Argument said that he has seen other instances of entangled elk. Thankfully, they are generally able to disentangle themselves.
“We periodically find piles of Christmas lights in the bushes around town – while we're doing other things – that are obviously transported there by antler-bearing animals.”
It’s also worth mentioning the potential hazard of those large inflatable decorations that have become popular in recent years.
Two years ago, one Jasper resident’s doorbell camera recorded an elk destroying one in her front yard.
He asked for people to report any situations where wildlife health looks to be an issue or where they otherwise are not behaving naturally or are in distress. Those reports can be made 24 hours a day by contacting Parks Canada Dispatch at 780-852-6155.
Editor's note: Dave Argument's correct title is resource conservation manager.
