A teenage male elk, excited by mating season, prompted officials to temporarily close Lone Elk Park in St. Louis County on Monday.
"We have a younger, more inexperienced herd bull this year," said Eric Johnson, acting director of St. Louis County Parks and Recreation. "It's his first year, and he's acting a little bit like a teenager."
St. Louis County resident Theresa Hammer learned this the hard way.
Hammer has been visiting Lone Elk Park her whole life, and last week she was sitting in her Ford Fusion in the park when she spotted the bull elk grazing. She looked down for a moment.
"I looked back up, and he hit the front of my car with his horns," Hammer said. "He scratched up the whole side of my car, my hood and put a big dent in the rear quarter panel."
Hammer hasn't gotten an estimate for the damage yet, but said this is the chance you take.
"This is not the animal's fault. We're in their environment," she said. "They're just doing what comes natural to them."
Johnson said his department was aware of the car incident and put up signs warning people to keep their distance, but decided it wasn't enough.
"This is an abundance of caution," Johnson said. "We're just trying to make sure that we protect the people and the cars and the elk itself. We want to protect him, too."
The anxious yet confident teen has risen through the pecking order of the herd at the park and has taken over the role of herd bull from his father this year.
As the new leader, the teenager has been very protective of his herd of female elk, Johnson said.
"Some of [the bulls] have it figured out and they calmly go about their business, and sometimes it's like this," Johnson said. "In my 32-year career, I think it's probably been 10 or 12 years since we had a bull that would get this anxious or excited."
Johnsons stressed that this is natural behavior for these animals and as soon as mating season ends, the bull should calm down and the park will reopen in the coming weeks.
"Hopefully, we're very near the end of the mating season, and it's a little surprising that he's gone on this long," Johnson said.
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