Game and Fish crews plan to try again today
CAT URBIGKIT Star-Tribune correspondent | Posted: Tuesday, January 29, 2008 12:00 am
PINEDALE - With crews ready to spring into action to process elk for brucellosis testing Monday morning, elk on two western Wyoming elk feedgrounds declined to be trapped.
Elk capture efforts were to take place at traps erected at both the Fall Creek and Muddy Creek feedgrounds along the western face of the Wind River Range, but a number of factors combined to make the effort unsuccessful.
The trapping effort is being conducted to test the animals for brucellosis, a bacterial-caused disease of the reproductive tract that is common in elk and bison in western Wyoming. This is the third year of a test-and-removal pilot project recommended by Wyoming's Brucellosis Coordination Team in an attempt to reduce the brucellosis rate in the region's elk herd.
With early-morning temperatures in the mid-20s Monday, elk using the Muddy Creek feedground wandered in and out of the trap, apparently enjoying the warm morning and filling up on the hay that had been used to bait the trap. Not enough elk were in the trap at one time to make triggering the trap door worthwhile, according to Wyoming Game and Fish Department officials.
There are nearly 400 elk being fed at Muddy Creek, including about 250 cows, which are the target of the trapping efforts.
The nearly 400 elk at the Fall Creek elk feedground remain wary of the new trap, according to Game and Fish's Bernie Holz, although about 200 elk have been baited into the facility for feeding. But while a crew was waiting for enough elk to enter the trap Monday morning, strong winds and blowing snow caused near-whiteout conditions. Capture efforts were halted for the day.
State wildlife officials planned to renew trapping efforts at both feedgrounds this morning.