BENEZETTE \u2014 Pity poor Polyphemus when it comes to getting an eye full of the wildlife in general and the Rocky Mountain Elk in particular on his odyssey to Pennsylvania\u2019s elk range.<\/p>\n
There is perhaps no greater outdoors experience than getting as up close as is permitted when viewing Pennsylvania\u2019s elk on the hoof. Now through the opening of the first firearms elk season, October 3-11, tourists are not only permitted to photograph and mingle \u2013 with in reason \u2013 when viewing elk, but encouraged to do so.<\/p>\n
Like all wildlife, elk should be respected and their wild nature be preserved. Elk is best appreciated when viewed from a respectable and safe distance, and the Pennsylvania Game Commission has adopted a program of four rules called \u201cElk Smart\u201d in dealing with or encountering elk.<\/p>\n
Give elk space<\/p>\n
Keep a distance of at least 100 yards between you and the elk. Never approach them. Elk are wild animals that are unpredictable and sometimes aggressive, especially during the fall breeding season. Cows are also known to defend their young when they feel threatened.<\/p>\n
Never feed elk<\/p>\n
Not only is it illegal to feed elk in Pennsylvania, but it teaches them to associate people, cars and\/or homes with food. This could cause them to approach people looking for more. Feeding also promotes the spread of infectious diseases by having them unnaturally congregate into small areas.<\/p>\n
Don\u2019t name elk<\/p>\n
Characterizing elk, or any wildlife, by naming them degrades their wild essence. The very reason people are drawn to the elk is their unaltered independence from humans. Personifying elk as humans takes away from their truly wild nature.<\/p>\n
Do your part<\/p>\n
The welfare of the elk herd is a shared responsibility. If you see someone being disruptive or careless, whether intentional or not, ask them to stop or report it to the PGC by calling 1-833-PGC-WILD. We all have a duty to ensure the safety of people and the long-term welfare of the elk.\u200b<\/p>\n
As part of the PGC sponsored State Game Lands tours, SGL 311 in Elk County is usually part of the program the last Sunday in September from 9 a.m. until noon. This a roughly 3.5-mile self-guided driving tour that provides a peek behind the curtain of the elk range.<\/p>\n
The tour starts at the Winslow Hill Viewing Area in Benezette, then enters the SGLs at the bottom of Dewey Road, continuing to Porcupine Road. PGC staff is posted along the tour route.<\/p>\n
Among other highlights, the tour will showcase elk habitat management including the planting and maintenance of forage plots and the use of prescribed fire, early successional and aspen forest management, acid mine drainage treatment, grassland bird and American kestrel management,and recent infrastructure improvements, including two different styles of PGC bridges.<\/p>\n
As a reminder, the tour is open only to PennDOT-registered vehicles. ATVs\/UTVs are not permitted.<\/p>\n
For the last two weeks some have already been following the movement of elk from the comfort of their home by watching Elk Cam. Located in the heart of Pennsylvania\u2019s elk range, an area totaling more than 220,000 acres, including State Game Lands 311 and Elk State Forest, Elk Cam has been livestreaming video and sound from the camera at\u00a0www.pa.gov\/pgc.<\/p>\n
In the coming weeks viewers can expect not only to see elk, but turkey, deer and other wildlife, as well.\u00a0 Elk, which in the coming weeks will ramp up activity \u2013 with bulls becoming more vocal and competing with one another for available cows \u2013 always seem to take center stage. Enjoying the show is just a few clicks away.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhether it\u2019s experiencing these remarkable animals in person or online, the elk herd in Pennsylvania continues to connect people across the Commonwealth and beyond,\u201d PGC Division Chief for Conservation Education and Social Science Jason Beale said. \u201cTheir growing presence is a testament to the dedication of the Game Commission\u2019s biologists, habitat managers, Game Wardens and the strong partnerships we have built with other agencies and private organizations that help conserve elk habitats.\u201d<\/p>\n
The livestream is provided by HDOnTap and made possible with the help of the North Central Pennsylvania Regional Planning and Development Commission.<\/p>\n
Elk Cam will run until the first elk firearm season, and the top times to see elk on camera are in the mornings and evenings.<\/p>\n
(Dietz is a member of the Pennsylvania Outdoor Writers Association. Contact the writer: outdoors@republicanherald.com.)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"BENEZETTE \u2014 Pity poor Polyphemus when it comes to getting an eye full of the wildlife in general…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":266142,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[708,28,30,29,726,289],"class_list":["post-266141","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-pennsylvania","tag-outdoors","tag-pennsylvania","tag-pennsylvania-headlines","tag-pennsylvania-news","tag-sports","tag-things-to-do"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/266141","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=266141"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/266141\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/266142"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=266141"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=266141"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=266141"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}