Posted on 02/10/2011 3:51:16 PM PST by Tainan
STONEY FORK, Ky. (AP) — Bringing the majestic elk back to the Appalachian hills and hollows where they once roamed has become a nightmare.
Rogues from a herd that numbers in the thousands are trampling gardens, flattening fences and marring yards with manure in the southeastern Kentucky town of Stoney Fork. They have made the roads dangerous, causing dozens of car crashes....(excerpt)
They’re manegable in NM given the scarcity of good grazing.
But given what’s happened back east with the deer populations, elk are an order of magnitude greater - especially if you run into one in a Hynundai.
Add WV to the list. They are already here.
The put a herd into the NC side of the Great Smokies.
Elk have an important role in the ecosystem — as steaks.
Introducing elk to Missouri is insane. Fortunately, I live far away from Peck Ranch (the release area). It’s big and wild down there, sparsely populated and no major hiways, but the elk will multiply and expand their range over time. The folks in southeastern Missouri will learn to hate them.
Sounds just as successful as the wolves that are taking over Yellowstone now. Surely, we could find some wily predator to reintroduce into Washington D.C.
I tracked some elk whilest on vacation at a buds place in the Nanthahalia... the pigs scare them off...
Outside of Cherokee...
That Elk herd in NC is up in the Cataloochee preserve right next to the ski area. It started out as a 40 animal herd and I am unsure of the current numbers but people drive up there to look at them. As far as I know they are not causing any trouble.
There’s a couple of outfitters that do spear hunts for boar up that way.
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