Unusual prowlers take an early-morning stroll down 30th Avenue
Friday, May 30, 2008 11:32 PM PDT
By Scot Heisel
Printable version
E-mail this articleLongview resident Randy Long is accustomed to a little commotion across the street from his rental home on 30th Avenue. A line of trees blocks his view of the centerfield fence of the R.A. Long High School baseball field, but he still hears the “ping” of metal bats and the shouts of fans and players.
Long encountered an entirely different sort of commotion, though, when he peered out his window around 4:30 a.m. Thursday and noticed a Longview police patrol car parked across the street facing north with its brake lights glowing.
Long thought it odd because of the hour, and “when they’re trying to catch speeders, they usually park down the block” at Olympic Elementary School.
Then a second patrol car arrived and the officer aimed its spotlight into the trees behind the ball field.
“I thought they were chasing someone,” Long said.
After a few minutes, the first car pulled away slowly. Then the second car headed off in the opposite direction.
Curious, Long stepped out of his house, crossed his front lawn and stood on the sidewalk. It was still dark, but the street light above was on.
Then he heard a rustling across the street.
“Two giant elk just burst out of the trees,” Long said. “They just bounced out and stopped.”
One had “huge” antlers, Long said, and the other was a cow. With nothing but the street between himself and the elk, Long froze.
“They were looking at me, and I was looking at them. I think they were just as startled as I was. It was a shock to us both.”
Longview Police Detective Doug Kazensky said police received a call at about that time of two bull elk creating a traffic hazard at the intersection of Ocean Beach Highway and Nichols Boulevard.
Kazensky said he didn’t think the two graveyard shift officers ever saw the animals, but they were put on alert for them.
“We get calls about loose horses, cattle, deer. I don’t ever recall an elk running through town in the 10 years I’ve been here,” Kazensky said.
Long said that after a few tense moments, the elk took off south down 30th Avenue, toward the school. When they got to the school, Long says they scared off a dog, which sped away from the elk.
“Those things sounded like a herd of elephants,” Long said.
Long watched the animals continue down 30th Avenue for several minutes “until they just faded out of view. The last I saw of them, they were almost to the Hemlock Store.”
A few minutes later, a car came down the street toward the elk, but the driver didn’t appear to notice anything.
“Of all the places to see elk,” said Long, who’s lived at his current residence for four years. “A deer, maybe. But two giant elk? I just wish I’d had a camera.”
Long said he wasn’t surprised the officers drove away. Given the hour, they probably just thought the elk would move on out of town before most people had awakened, he said.
“I mean, what are they gonna do?”
Gondolapete wrote on May 30, 2008 11:40 PM:
scooby wrote on May 31, 2008 6:50 AM:
Why are we building more haouses anyway? "
DW wrote on May 31, 2008 9:30 AM:
My name is DW and I approve of this messege. I also support PETA, (People Eating Tasty Animals) :) "
Reality wrote on May 31, 2008 10:50 AM:
kitten wrote on May 31, 2008 2:28 PM:
Mr. Chinook wrote on May 31, 2008 3:15 PM:
mole wrote on May 31, 2008 3:36 PM:
cheney119 wrote on May 31, 2008 5:18 PM:
citizen_jane wrote on May 31, 2008 8:48 PM:
SPARROW wrote on Jun 1, 2008 9:46 AM:
Gondolapete wrote on Jun 1, 2008 3:42 PM:
kitten wrote on Jun 1, 2008 7:17 PM:
To citizen_Jane . That is exactly what I expected them to do. The human mentality that you have is why the wildlife is suffering. Would it be "feasible" if it were you who were scared to death and running amongst the cars trying not to get hit?????? "
mole wrote on Jun 1, 2008 8:38 PM:
mole wrote on Jun 1, 2008 8:48 PM:
cheney119 wrote on Jun 1, 2008 9:10 PM:
kitten wrote on Jun 2, 2008 5:54 AM:
Scooby. Thanks, I feel much better. And it looks like this time the elk probably did make it back out of town without any incident. My main thought about the police doing something was for both human and animal safety. I sure wouldn't want to be a small child that inadvertently got between a bull elk and their escape route. Or an adult either for that matter. "
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