A tourist visiting Colorado's Front Range received a swift lesson in wildlife safety recently after carrying his small dog right up to a cow elk for a closer look. Elk tend to prefer close encounters with people and will usually leave an area rather than confront someone, but they tend to react particularly badly around dogs, which they see as a threat regardless of size.
This particular elk reacted with a quick bluff charge to drive the man and his pet away, but not all incidents end so easily. Cow elk protecting calves have been known to chase after dog-walkers, and even knock them down, causing injuries. Last year, a couple in Colorado were chased into their home by a defensive cow elk, barely managing to get their dogs inside in time.
