Elk rescued after Christmas lights, candy canes get stuck in antlers

An elk that got tangled up in some Christmaslights and decorations put on an unusual holiday display this week for Banff residents.

The bull elk was spotted wandering near the Alberta mountain town with lights and candy cane ornamentsstrung up in his antlers.

Parks Canada, whichresponded to a resident's call, tranquillizedthe elk to get him untangled. About 4metres of lights were trailing behind him.

"We thought that it could get wrapped up in its legs and cause some injury and/or get wrapped up in a bush," said resource management officer Blair Fyten.

Antlers takenoff

"This elk is one that frequents the edge of thetown site and we just thought there couldbe another possibility that he could find himself wrapped up in some more Christmas lights," said Fyten. "So instead of putting him through the drugging situation again we decided to cut his antlers off."

The elk is doing fine without his antlers, saidFyten.Elk lose their antlers every year, normally around March or April.

Antlers areprimarily used for asserting dominance to secure a mate, which normally happens in September.

At this time of year, antlers dont serve a lot of purpose, so thats why we decided to cut them off, saidFyten.

"Every couple of years we'll get an animal that's got Christmas lights on him and sometimes they're able to shed the lights themselves, and sometimes they're wrapped up so tight that we have to intervene."

This year, at least twoanimals have been trapped in Christmas lights, he said.

Parks Canada is warning residents who live inareas frequented by deer or elk to string lights onto their houses rather thantrees or shrubs, where some wildlifefeed.