TACOMA, Wash. (KFOR/Storyful) – Don’t try this at home, kids! A couple of brave deputies in Tacoma, Washington delicately and cautiously freed an elk whose antlers were entangled in the rope of a tree swing.
The angry elk even charged one of the deputies, who then took a tumble.
Video at the top of this story was shared by the Pierce County Sheriff’s Department.
“Usually these can require deputies to put the injured animal down, which is not a fun thing to have to do… With a delay for other agencies to respond, our deputies stepped up to the challenge of freeing this young bull elk,” the department stated on social media.
With mating season in full swing, police say the bull was likely searching for a female, which briefly went awry.
Rutting elk often rub their antlers on trees to impress females, or to show dominance.
The video shows the deputies calmly using different tools to cut the rope, while trying to shield themselves on the other side of the tree.
In the end, the deputies joked about the ungrateful elk, who sprinted off into the woods to continue his quest.
