Welcome back to Flat Hats at Home.
Bringing a little bit of Redwood National and State Parks to you and your home.
I’m Ranger Brad.
At Redwood, the largest land mammal is the Roosevelt Elk.
It’s always a treat to catch sight of a herd grazing.
Now they can seem pretty cute.
But between late August and mid-October, the male elk are rutting.
This is the time of the year when male elk are battling each other and vying for the
hearts of the females.
With all that pent-up energy, they can act aggressively towards humans too.
All one can do is the next best thing and listen to Ranger Melissa’s song on wildlife
viewing safety!
Elk are much bigger than people.
Ted, tell them more that’s true.
We’re the biggest by far in North America where you are
And we’re named after a president, too!
Huh, that’s pretty neat.
But people should not try to pet you.
Ted, can’t they read the signs?
This is once again true, no exceptions—even for you.
You got me, I’ll keep my distance and we’ll be fine.
Please remember folks, that means staying at least 75 feet away.
Don’t try to cross that line.
Hi all, Ranger Melissa here, I use she/her pronouns.
Like the other Roosevelt Elk that live within Redwood National and State Parks, Ted is a
wild animal.
We get tons of visitors every year and because the elk have gotten used to seeing lots of
humans walking about, they can sometimes seem very tame, like they don’t care we are here.
But don’t let that fool you, because they are indeed, very, very wild creatures.
Now whether you are visiting us here in the redwoods, or exploring in your own backyard,
you should always keep a safe distance away from wildlife.
But how do you know if you are a safe distance away from a wild animal?
Personally, I like to use the rule of thumb.
In fact, you can practice this with me right now.
For starters, give me a nice big thumbs up, but take your arm and fully extend it in front
of your body.
Now choose an object that’s in front of you and that is going to be your pretend animal.
I want you to hold your thumb up so that it tries to cover that object in your line of
vision.
If your thumb completely covers it, congratulations, you are far enough away from your pretend
animal.
But, if you are holding your thumb up and can still see parts of your object around
the outside of your thumb, then you are too close to your pretend animal and would need
to back away to respect its space.
Try this out the next time you go for a walk in your neighborhood or the next time you
go adventuring in a county, state, or national park.
It is a great way to do a self-check to make sure you are respecting the space of any wild
animals that you encounter.
But remember, the rule of thumb is only a guideline.
If the animal you’re watching is changing it’s behavior because of your presence,
even if you pass the rule of thumb, you’re still too close—you need to back off and
give that animal a little more space.
Because remember, you are a guest in that animal’s home.
Happy wildlife viewing!
Thanks for those wonderful wildlife viewing safety tips!
If you have any questions about elk or wildlife viewing, drop them in the comments below and
we’ll be happy to answer those for you.
We’ll see you all next time for another episode of Flat Hats at Home.
Bringing a little bit of our home, to yours.
If you enjoyed this video, give us a like or maybe even give us a share.
Redwood National and State Parks is committed to bringing as much of our park to your home
as we can during this unprecedented time.
So please, stay healthy, and stay safe!