An elk in the swimming pool? Watch how two Colorado men improvised to save it

The idea of a 600-plus-pound elk taking a dip in someone’s fancy pool sounds kind of funny — until you start wondering how one gets an elk out of a swimming pool.

Basically, once they’re in, they’re staying.

That’s what happened Sunday in Estes Park, Colorado, when an elk tried walking across a pool cover and fell through. Video tweeted by Colorado Parks and Wildlife shows it was found standing shoulder-deep in the water, with no clue how to get out.

The town is 70 miles northwest of Denver.

Two officers — one working for the city of Estes Park and one for the state — are credited with rescuing it, after they used a rope to tug the elk toward the pool’s stairs. Their hope was the bull would eventually figure out on it own that it could step out.

It was a brave idea, given bull elk weigh up to 700 pounds, stand 5 feet at the shoulder and can be 8 feet long, according to the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation.

Yet the plan worked. The two men are seen in the video pulling the elk toward the stairs, while it pulled in the opposite direction. “Six more inches. Keep it coming,” one officers says, as the elk nears the stairs. “Almost out. He’s finding it.”

Cheers are heard when the elk steps out and gallops off via the driveway, with the rope still fixed to its antlers.

The state didn’t say exactly how long it took the two men to get the elk out. But a post script on the video reports the elk was not hurt, and the rope was not tied and will fall off on its own.

It marked the second time the same bull had been in predicament, state officials said. Two years ago, it was found with netting stuck around its antlers and mouth. Wildlife officers had to use a tranquilizer dart to capture the elk and remove the netting, officials said.

State officials did not say who owns the pool, which was in the home’s backyard, or how long the elk might have been stuck.

This story was originally published August 25, 2020 at 7:01 AM.