Oh, hay!
Two elk are lucky to survive what they must have thought at first was an easy meal.
Instead, on Thursday wildlife officers pulled the animals from a collapsed haystack in Smithers, B.C., which is about 675 kilometres north of Vancouver.
“The unsuspecting farmer noticed something sticking out of his lopsided haystack and called the #RAPP line,” the B.C. Conservation Officer Service posted on social media.
This is what officers saw when they arrived.
There was an almost completely covered elk — and something unexpected.
“As they helped direct the farmer with his tractor to remove the hay, to their surprise a second elk was discovered completely buried!,” wildlife officers explained.
It’s not clear how long they were trapped for.
But conservation officers do have a theory about how the animals got into a jam.
“CO’s suspect the elk had been eating the haystack from one side, and it eventually tipped over on them,” the conservation officer service explained.
#Smithers #BCCOS received call of an elk trapped by a collapsed hay stack. First photo was what was observed on arrival. While removing the hay from the first elk, a second elk was discovered completely buried inside. Both were freed and walked from the site. pic.twitter.com/CxURrsZ441
— BC CO Service (@_BCCOS) February 14, 2020
Both were freed and walked from the site.
— BC CO Service (@_BCCOS) February 14, 2020
Conservation officers went back to the farm on Friday. The animals were long gone.
“Thanks to an observant farmer,” they added. “This story had a happy ending!”
Photos BCCOS/Twitter