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THE DAILY ASTORIAN • TUESDAY, JULY 19, 2016
Elk: To stay safe, keep your dog on a leash, no elk selies
Continued from Page 1A
Everywhere there are elk,
“people should have their dogs
on leash,” naturalist and pho-
tographer Neal Maine said.
“A modern-day dog really
doesn’t understand an elk, and
most people think the elk are
going to run away from a dog.
Elk can chase them, much like
people take their dogs to the
beach to chase birds around for
exercise. Coyotes and wolves
are two of their past enemies,
so they’re all set up to take
them out.”
The behavior may be brutal.
Once they get a dog down, “they
pound on them with their feet,”
Maine said. “It’s part of their
reaction to a predator.”
“If your dog is cornered —
you wouldn’t want to intervene,
unless you’re really foolhardy,”
Maine added.
John Dudley has a home
by Little Beach in Gearhart,
ground zero for the elk popu-
lation, where he chronicles the
path of the elk with his camera.
“The difference lately has been
there have been calves in the
herd, week-old calves,” Dudley
R.J. Marx/The Daily Astorian
Elk in a Gearhart driveway.
said. “It’s postpartum time for
the cows.”
One “alpha bull,” recogniz-
able by a small but visible scar
on his right shoulder, in the herd
is particularly aggressive, Dud-
ley said.
Sometimes the bull becomes
“rather agitated,” herding the
others, corralling them, and
ighting off young bulls who
consider themselves “pretenders
to the throne.”
Dudley said he witnessed
an encounter when a kayaker in
the estuary was pulled toward
the shore by the tide. The kay-
akers drifted closer to the herd
and they pulled out cellphones
to ilm the encounter.
“Suddenly
something
spooked the elk and en masse
they galloped south,” Dudley
said. “They could have just as eas-
ily stampeded over the kayakers.”
Taking cues
Normally, Gearhart’s elk
herd “kind of moseys,” Bow-
man said.
Hikers and visitors should
take heed when “their heads
come up from their feeding
and they’re staring at you and
they’re not turning,” he said.
“Turn around and go back,”
Bowman said. “They’ll leave
you alone. They aren’t going
John Dudley/For The Daily Astorian
“Big Daddy” alpha bull keeps its eye on a kayaker in Little
Beach. More photos of elk online at DailyAstorian.com
to chase you down. Their heads
are going to go back down and
they’ll continue eating.”
Elk eat 50 pounds a day —
“and they don’t care if it’s your
garden, off the golf course or
through the woods,” Bowman
said.
People should not attempt
to approach the elk for cell-
phone pictures. “If they want
to do photography, get a cam-
era,” Maine said. “Elk photog-
raphy with a cellphone is not
productive.”
“The two times I’ve seen
chase-downs, they’d been trying
to get close enough to get a cell-
phone shot,” Maine said.
Observing nature
Maine advised the best way
to enjoy the elk is to appreciate
“an amazing creature that’s been
here for thousands of years.”
“We should learn to become
observers of wildlife, he said,
and take 15 minutes to watch
the interaction between the cows
and the calves and the spikes,”
Maine said. “Keep your distance
and watch the phenomena of
them moving, feeding, interact-
ing, so you’re observing some-
thing, not just trying to get a pic-
ture. Watch their behavior and
be intrigued and interested in
that part of it. That gets missed
by the drive-by folks.”
Prior to European settle-
ment, more than 10 million elk
roamed nearly all of the United
States and parts of Canada, with
about 1 million today.
Maine said at one point,
less than a century ago, the elk
were virtually extinct in Clat-
sop County from overhunting.
Hunting was closed for about 10
years as elk were reintroduced
into the area. “There are people
who say their grandpa had a pic-
ture of elk being unloaded from
a train in downtown Seaside to
transplant here.”
To stay safe, keep your dog
on a leash, no elk selies and
observe, don’t interfere, Maine
said. “The reason this area is
so rich and so beautiful and so
wonderful is because there’s
still wildlife in the habitat. So
observe it, enjoy it and have it
make your day richer.”
Code violators: ‘I don’t need someone dying in Long Beach’
Continued from Page 1A
Safety and ire issues are the
primary concern, but livabil-
ity and property values are also
affected by owners that aren’t
pulling their weight.
As the mayor drove slowly
past a private residence in a
Long Beach neighborhood
of small lots and single-level
homes, he didn’t have to point
out the problem. Nearly a dozen
cars, all of which appeared to be
in some state of disrepair, were
jammed together like massive
jigsaw pieces on a lot over-
grown with waist-high weeds.
To each side of the mess,
manicured lawns and spotless
lots were the norm.
“If I went to sell my house
next to him, what do you think
I’d get?” asked the mayor
rhetorically.
The owner has been con-
tacted and ined, but there’s
been little improvement to the
property.
Phillips admits that some
ordinances may need to be
revised and made more spe-
ciic about what’s allowed and
what isn’t. Some residents, the
mayor said, are taking advan-
tage of “loopholes.”
Somebody’s gotta do it
Phillips says problematic
properties can strain staff and
inancial resources. When own-
ers don’t comply and the city
is forced to step in, taxpayer
money ends up being diverted
for cleanup costs and legal fees.
Plus, a small staff and a lim-
ited budget mean everyone has
to do what they can with what
they have. That includes the
mayor.
Phillips says lingering code
enforcement issues can grow
into serious hazards to public
safety. He’s worried that kids
playing or transients crashing
overnight are all at risk.
“I don’t need someone
dying in Long Beach,” said
the mayor, who isn’t afraid to
make a few house calls to make
sure that doesn’t happen on his
watch.
“Sometimes being the
mayor and coming up and
talking to them can help,” Phil-
lips said.
The mayor refuses to call
code enforcement a chal-
lenge. Instead, he prefers to
keep his eye on the prize even
if resolution sometimes takes
years, or even decades to
accomplish.
“It’s just a big opportunity,”
he said.
Sometimes a success
The Gray Parrot, an aban-
doned and failed brew pub,
had steadily devolved into
a health hazard and a haven
for drug users and transient
activity.
The property and main
structure front Paciic Ave-
nue, while the deep lot retreats
hundreds of feet back from the
road. Abandoned cars, rust-
ing mobile homes and several
outbuildings added to a scene
of mounting violations and
lawlessness.
The owner was uncoopera-
tive, the mayor said. The bank
inally took it over, and the city
inally had its opportunity.
A neighboring propane
business was eager to see the
site cleaned up and also needed
room to expand. The city
helped arrange a deal that saw
Active Enterprises purchase the
property.
The cars and trailers have
all been removed and the once
cluttered site has been cleared
of brush and its most immedi-
ate hazards.
A bill for $10,000 in dump
fees alone highlights the chal-
lenges that face buyers of
long-neglected lots.
Phillips says the whole proj-
ect, nearly ive years in the
making, still has plenty left to
be done. Still, he considers it a
success, and commends Active
Enterprises for seeing the
investment as an opportunity.
Almost always, resolution
comes in stages.
In another case, the city was
successful in achieving autho-
rization to demolish an aban-
doned gas station that loomed
for years at the corner of Sid
Snyder and Paciic Avenues.
The tanks were drained and
the lot was cleared. The site
now boasts signage for the city
and local businesses, as well as
a bright red buoy.
“The eyesore is gone,” Phil-
lips said.
But the problem isn’t, entirely.
Facing the potential of
growing health and environ-
mental issues, the city took out
a lien on the property and had
to invest nearly $100,000 for
the cleanup.
Phillips hopes to see that
money back in city coffers
when, and if, the property ulti-
mately sells.
“The biggest issue is trying
to get people to take ownership
and pride in their property, or
business they have, and to stand
up and do the right thing,” Phil-
lips said.
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