The Elk at Yellowstone Have Absolutely No Chill at the Moment
They're screaming their lungs out, but for a very specific reason.
Something is up with the elk at Yellowstone National Park. If you head over to TikTok, you'll quickly learn that they're definitely acting up—but there is a good reason.
As the National Park Service recently reminded campers, hikers, and outdoors enthusiasts alike, it is about to be fall mating season for bull elk in Yellowstone, which means only one thing: Stay away from them! More specifically, the park recommends you always stay at least 25 yards away.
Elk are definitely not a rare sight in Yellowstone, and because there are so many of them (up to 20,000), visitors should be alert at all times. They are, according to a warning issued by the NPS, "unpredictable" during this time of the year, and people in the past have been severely injured.
It surely doesn't help that elk are massive, they move fast, and they can charge people who get too close as well as cars. They can weigh between 500 and 700 pounds, and height-wise they are comparable to humans, as they usually stand at around five feet tall. If an elk charges, the NPS recommends you get away and retreat to shelter as quickly as possible.
If you see—or better, hear—an elk during mating season, however, I can almost guarantee you your first thought won't be that of approaching it. In a TikTok posted yesterday which already amassed almost 500,000 likes, an elk is shown wondering about in Yellowstone and, quite literally, screaming its lungs out in search for "his ladies and a good bull fight," as the caption puts it. The video, posted by Josie Weaver (@cricketbbyweave), overtext highlights the elk's mood: "It's 7 am and he's already mad."
The comment section of the video doesn't disappoint. "Someone for the love of god get that Elk a date" said one user. Another one made fun of the eerie screech the elk let out. "That is actually me screaming in the car on the way to work dreading social interaction." Finally, another comment chose a more diplomatic way to go about it: "He's definitely feeling frisky," they pointed out.
Need to see more video evidence of Yellowstone's screaming elk? We've got you covered below, thanks to more of Weaver's work: