Unfortunate Elk Stuck with a ‘Mop-top’

On Friday, July 18, 2014, Jennifer Collins snapped some pictures  of an elk near the Mt. Si Golf Course in the North Bend/Snoqualmie area – some photos that left her wondering and guessing.

On first glance, the elk appears to have a head of hair… a fairly thick head of hair in fact.

Upon closer inspection, though, it seems this young elk may have come into contact with something that is now stuck between his growing antlers.

Jennifer says her best guess is that this poor guy has a old mop stuck on his head. Snoqualmie Valley resident, Jim Reitz, has also featured a photo of this unfortunate elk on his photography website recently, titling the elk “mop-top.”

Jennifer posted the photos on social media and said a hunter explained, “His [elk] antlers are still in velvet, so they will be slightly soft, tender and sensitive. He won’t like to touch them to anything because of that tenderness. Once they harden he will rub off the velvet on tree trunks and branches and will probably be able to get rid of this tangle…..”

Has anyone else spotted this very distinctive elk wandering the Snoqualmie Valley lately?