When Matthew Siegel heard a loud noise coming from his
basement, he rushed to find out what had happened.
A 600-pound elk stood staring back at him.
"To see a full-size elk standing in your downstairs
living room when you get down there is something that you'd never expect,"
Siegel told KTVB.
Siegel and other residents in Idaho have seen snow levels
rising in the mountainous northwestern state. Rising snow levels in the mountains
kill elk and push them from the snowier regions.
“It is one of those years (that) we have a lot of elk and
we have our first normal snow levels in the past five years and elk are being
pushed into the valley and getting into trouble,” said Daryl Meints, Magic
Valley Fish and Game regional wildlife manager.
But homeowners like Siegel never expected to come face to
face with the massive animals.
The elk fell through Siegel's durable Plexiglass window.
"It's Plexiglass and able to hold a couple hundred
pounds, but obviously not a full elk," he said.
After hours of trying to lure the elk out of the house,
officials almost gave up. But Siegel encouraged them to try one more time.
“It took us about 2.5 hours, but we got her out uninjured,”
said Alex Head, Fish and Game senior conservation officer. “The basement will
need a good, deep cleaning, but we are glad it worked out as well as it did.”
Siegel is hoping homeowners insurance will cover the costs
of the damage.
Mountain snow levels are killing elk and driving them into
the Wood River Valley of Idaho.
At least one was found trapped in a Hailey-area resident's
home on Wednesday after falling through a window into a basement, the Idaho
Department of Fish and Game said.
“It is one of those years, we have a lot of elk and we have
our first normal snow levels in the past five years and elk are being pushed
into the valley and getting into trouble,” said Daryl Meints, Magic Valley Fish
and Game regional wildlife manager.
Matthew Siegel was awakened at around 12:45 a.m. Wednesday
when a cow elk ended up in a basement room after falling through a window well.
"It's Plexiglass and able to hold a couple hundred
pounds, but obviously not a full elk," Siegel said. "To see a full-size
elk standing in your downstairs living room when you get down there is
something that you'd never expect."
After hours of unsuccessful attempts to get the elk out of
the home, Blaine County Sheriff's Office deputies and Fish and Game officers
drove the elk up the basement stairs and out the front door by barricading a
path with furniture.
“It took us about 2.5 hours, but we got her out uninjured,”
said Alex Head, Fish and Game senior conservation officer. “The basement will
need a good, deep cleaning, but we are glad it worked out as well as it did.”
The elk did end up with a minor cut on her neck that left
blood on the Siegels's floor.
"There is some pretty good damage. I mean, the window
is totally destroyed... It looks pretty nasty down there," Siegel told
KTVB-TV.
He is hoping homeowners insurance will cover the costs of
damage. Siegel says this is the first time in four years that he has seen elk
right there in his neighborhood. Fish and Game says that's because there hasn't
been enough snow in recent years to push them out of the high country and into
lower, more visible, areas where forage is available.
In another incident, at the Hailey Cemetery on Tuesday 10
elk died after eating a bush called the Japanese Yew.
“Japanese Yew is known to be extremely toxic,” Meints said.
“This has happened before in the Wood River Valley and other places around the
state to both elk and moose.”
Since then, the Yew has been removed from the grounds, and
Fish and Game officers removed the dead elk from the cemetery.
"You're seeing them in downtown Twin Falls," Fish
and Game Regional Conservation Educator Kelton Hatch said. "In Boise,
you're seeing a lot more deer and elk move down to the foothills and stuff, and
up there in Sun Valley."
Other elk are being hit and killed on area roads, Fish and
Game said. Idaho Department of Transportation is encouraging drivers to pay
special attention on I-84 near Mountain Home.
"Particularly during dawn and dusk hours when elk and
deer may be on the move looking for food," ITD Communications Officer
Jennifer Gonzalez told KTVB.
Fish and Game is urging drivers to be aware, watch the
shoulder of the road and go slow enough that you can react if an elk or deer
happens to jump in front of your car.
“The best thing for people to do is slow down when driving,
when you have elk in your backyard give them a wide berth and don’t push them,
and if you have a problem call Fish and Game or local city police or the county
sheriff,” Meints said
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