FORKS – Sequim is not the only place in Clallam County that may have an elk problem.
Last week, about two miles east of Forks, a 14-year-old thoroughbred horse, Siemon, was gored by a bull elk in what state Department of Fish and Wildlife officials call a rare, but not unheard-of attack on a domesticated animal.
“I wouldn’t say this is typical by any means,” said Anita McMillan, a wildlife biologist with the department’s office in Sequim.
The attack occurred at the beginning of the animals’ rut season, a time when a bull elk’s thoughts turn to sex, elk cows and keeping his species alive.
As the bull elk seek to prove their fitness as a mate, they get aggressive, usually bugling and ramming each other with their antlers.
“Basically, they just get pretty rambunctious,” McMillan said.
“Rambunctious with other elk, or trees . . . It will occasionally happen with domesticated animals.”
