Driving to the coast the other day (20 October 2025), I was a little surprised to see a large Elk (Cervus canadensis) fairly close to the side of the road. We pulled over to take a photo for the record.
I had a vague recollection that an elk had been spotted in western Sonoma County before, so I contacted Brock at the Occidental Arts & Ecology Center for an update. He confirmed that a male Elk has been observed off and on in this area for 6-7 years now. (It also looks like it's possible a few others have been spotted in West County.)
With many thanks to Brock for keeping track of and confirming some of the local elk history!
5 comments:
Such a gorgeous creature! Do you think it originated with the Point Reyes Tule Elk herds?
Hi!
There are also Elk to the north, so I don't know if there's a way to identify the origin. I remember that Tule Elk (the subspecies on Point Reyes) are smaller than Roosevelt Elk, but I don't know if there are other characteristics that could be useful?
P.S. If anyone is interested, CDFW has a website for reporting Elk observations:
https://cdfw.maps.arcgis.com/apps/CrowdsourceReporter/index.html?appid=70fc2a0613884088b8f91698df6a4c2f
Awesome. Thanks for sharing!
I just wanted to take moment and tell you how much I appreciate your site. I turn to it time and again for peace & tranquility online, education for myself and my kids, and to be inspired by nature-based blogging. You have consistently provided these resources to myself and others - and it's so appreciated! Thank you!
Thank you so much! I really appreciate knowing how different folks are interacting with the NHBH, so thank you for taking the time to send along your thoughtful comment...and for inspiring me to keep going!
:) Jackie
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