I don't know how many more of these stories I'm going to write about and put fair warnings out for people before they realize that it's absolutely imperative to give wildlife plenty of space when encountering any kind of wild animal in its natural habitat.

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Time and time again, I see people clamoring up close and personal to get a better look or a better picture for their Instagram stories and it pains me. Probably not as much as this guy was in pain from getting charged and bowled over by a bull elk in Estes Park even after getting warned by another citizen about getting too close. But it pains me nonetheless.

In fact, here's the statement from the gentleman that saw the guy getting too close to the bull elk and warned him:

“My name is Eric Burley and I live in Denver Colorado. My wife who is pregnant in her second trimester and also currently going thru chemotherapy treatment fighting breast cancer was having a “good day” on Oct 31st so we decided to go to Estes Park Colorado.

While in Estes Park we noticed a heard of Elk relaxing and feeding in the middle of a park area. It was a beautiful site to see up close and personal. I then noticed another male Elk coming towards the heard and thought this isn’t going to be good. The two male elks made eye contact and started showing teeth.

That’s when I knew to clear a path between the two and let mother nature take its course. However a person thought it would be wise to walk right in front of one of the Male Elks.

This person also didn’t listen to my commands to watch out and that’s when the person got attacked by the elk. The person seemed fine, thankfully but the message here is too respect the space of wildlife and to use common sense.”

YouTube/VESA Channel

Just a couple of weeks ago while my son and I were hiking, we spotted about four deer and a mountain goat within about an hour of each other, and on both occasions, we were extra cautious and gave the animals plenty of space and moved slowly around them.

I can't imagine seeing a bull elk weighing in at around 1,000 pounds with the ability to run up to 30-35 mph with those huge antlers and wanting to get up closer to look at it.

Here's a fact: it doesn't matter how docile, cute, or incredible the animal looks. If it finds you to be a threat, it will charge you and do what it needs to do to protect itself. That's exactly what happened in the heart of Estes Park. Thankfully the man can live to tell his story and hopefully warn others to not make the same mistake.

If he doesn't, then I will. Keep your distance from any and all wildlife. We are in their element and habitat, respect it.

Sorry for the yelling, but I get so frustrated seeing this same thing constantly happening and I just don't want to see anyone get hurt.

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