A Roosevelt Elk? On the Mendonoma Coast?

Jeff Ward and the Jerrold Baker family were driving down Highway One south of The Sea Ranch. They could hardly believe their eyes. It was a big Roosevelt Elk.

Here's what Jeff had to saw about their extremely rare sighting:

“We were heading south on Highway One from Gualala. All of a sudden Jerrold yells, ‘What is that?!’ It was a Roosevelt Elk! The Elk was in a full sprint at about 35 mph running on the west side of the highway. It leaped over two barbed wire fences dividing the pastures, completely clearing the fences by four feet on each side, incredible to see.”
As Jeff and the Bakers watched in awe, the Elk jumped another fence and was then running south in the northbound lane of the highway. Fortunately there was no traffic and the Elk veered east and disappeared into the forest.
Jeff continued, “My guess is the Elk’s weight was approximately 650+ pounds. The rack was level to my windshield on a Dodge 2500 3/4 ton 4x4 truck and the spread of the points was about 3 ½ feet.”

These huge elk are normally found to our far north, Oregon, Washington and Alaska. What it was doing on the Mendonoma Coast is a mystery. The much smaller Tule Elk can be seen at Point Reyes to our south.

Thanks to Jeff for allowing me to share his photo and sighting with you here.