A bull elk wandering around Estes Park, Colorado, got into the Halloween spirit, sporting a black witch decoration dangling from its antlers.
A 16-second video of the elk, which has gone viral for a second time, shows the bull casually crossing a highway with the witch swinging from its right antler.
The elk appears mildly annoyed by its unwanted passenger but otherwise continues on its way.
Social media commenters have had a field day with the footage, shot in October 2025 but shared Monday by Colorado Wild Images.
“He just wants to get some candy too,” one commenter joked.
“When his antlers shed, we will then know who it was,” another wrote.
And, of course, there were plenty of jokes about the elk's chances of attracting a mate while wearing a witch on its head.
But while the sight of a bull elk wearing Halloween decorations might be good for a laugh, wildlife officials say there's a serious side to the spectacle.
Every fall, elk, deer and moose risk getting their antlers tangled in everything from wire fencing and ropes to hammocks, Christmas lights and Halloween decorations.
And with big-game animals in the throes of their fall mating seasons, the opportunities for trouble are plentiful.
Looking For Love – And Trouble
Ron Dean, a retired Wyoming Game and Fish supervisor who oversaw Wyoming's 22 elk feedgrounds for about 30 years, said fall is a particularly troublesome time for bull elk.
That’s because it’s mating season, also known as the rut. Their antlers are fully grown, their hormones are raging, and they're more inclined to challenge anything they perceive as competition.
“During the rut, they'll bang into cars,” Dean told Cowboy State Daily. “They're just looking for a fight.”
Dean, who lives in Etna, said it's not unusual for elk to get their antlers tangled in wire or fencing, although he can't recall ever seeing one with a Halloween witch dangling from its head.
The risk of entanglement can begin even before the rut, when bulls rub their antlers against trees and other objects to remove the velvet that nourished their growing antlers throughout the summer.
“The season where it would most likely happen would be when they're rubbing the velvet,” Dean said.
Once the rut begins, bulls use their antlers to spar with rivals and establish dominance. That activity can bring them into contact with fencing, ropes and other objects that aren't nearly as easy to shake loose as an opposing bull.
And while a Halloween witch might make for an entertaining video, some entanglements can become life-threatening if they interfere with an animal's ability to eat, move or escape danger.
Elk Are Part Of The Neighborhood
Jeff Kehoe, who works at the Estes Park Visitors Center, said residents and visitors are accustomed to sharing streets, parks and neighborhoods with the animals.
But during the rut, the bulls can become especially unpredictable.
“During the rut they're absolutely crazy,” Kehoe told Cowboy State Daily. “They get their antlers tangled in all kinds of stuff when they wander into town.”
Kehoe said a herd of about 200 elk winters in the area, making encounters between wildlife and human belongings a regular part of life.
Residents try to be mindful about what they leave outdoors, particularly during the fall.
“We try hard not to put stuff that they're going to get tangled in,” Kehoe said.
But the reality is that elk live there, too.
That means the same yards and public spaces decorated for Halloween can become playgrounds – or potential hazards – for animals weighing hundreds of pounds and carrying enormous racks of antlers.
From Witches To Swings
Halloween decorations aren't the only things that have gotten the attention of Colorado's elk.
In 2023, a Colorado Parks and Wildlife officer rescued an elk that had become tangled in the ropes of a swing.
The agency shared the rescue on social media, saying the animal had spent six months walking around with the swing wrapped around its antlers.
“Our officer took care to soothe the elk and carefully extract the antlers from the ropes,” the agency wrote.
More recently, Kristy Williams, a wildlife photographer and owner of Colorado Wild Photography, told Cowboy State Daily she encountered a bull elk with a black cable tangled in its antlers.
In that case, Colorado Parks and Wildlife tranquilized the bull to remove the cable, she said.
Also this year, Loren Schrag of Good Bull Outdoors, a Colorado-based wildlife photography and guided wildlife tour company, witnessed a bull near Estes Park that had more than 300 feet of wire fencing tangled in its antlers.
“It was incredible how much wire there was,” Schrag told Cowboy State Daily.
The bull struggled against the fencing, he said, and when officers tranquilized it, the animal ran across a road, dragging so much wire that it stretched across the roadway behind him. Wildlife officers used bolt cutters to remove the fencing from the elk's antlers,
Not every elk wearing an unwanted accessory requires that kind of intervention, however.
“We kind of just let them shed it off unless it stops them from eating or living naturally,” a Colorado Parks and Wildlife spokesperson told Cowboy State Daily.
Whether wildlife officials intervene depends on the nature of the entanglement and the danger it poses to the animal.
A Seasonal Warning
With Halloween approaching, Colorado Parks and Wildlife this week reminded residents that decorations intended to frighten trick-or-treaters can pose real dangers to wildlife.
Fake spiderwebs, mummy wrappings and other loosely hanging decorations can catch on antlers, legs and other parts of an animal's body.
“These items can easily entangle and trap wildlife, which can be very stressful and dangerous for them,” the agency said in a public statement.
The warning extends beyond Halloween decorations.
“This also goes for bringing in older seasonal accoutrements like hammocks, patio furniture and other reminders of summer that pose a tangle hazard to wildlife,” the agency said.
Fall is an especially active time for big game, including elk, deer and moose, as animals move between seasonal habitats and engage in their respective mating seasons.
Some also move closer to communities as they transition toward winter range, increasing the likelihood they'll encounter objects people have left outside.
Wildlife officials recommend placing holiday lights and decorations at least six feet above the ground or securing them tightly to trees and buildings.
The agency's rule of thumb is simple: Hang decorations high and tight, rather than low and loose.
It's advice that applies just as well to Wyoming communities where elk, deer and moose share space with people.
Unwanted Halloween Costume
For the Estes Park bull elk that found itself wearing a witch, the encounter provided an unusual moment of Halloween entertainment.
The video has resurfaced just in time for another round of seasonal laughs, with viewers once again marveling at the sight of an animal that apparently got a little too close to someone's decorations.
But the footage also offers a reminder that what looks funny from a distance can become a serious problem for wildlife.
And while Halloween is a time when people go looking for a good scare, an elk with a witch hanging from its antlers probably wasn't looking for one.
Kate Meadows can be reached at kate@cowboystatedaily.com.
