Colorado Parks & Wildlife urges caution as female elk protect young in Estes Park

The busy season is on in Estes Park. Yes, tourism season, but also elk calving season and one may not mix well with the other.

"Living here, you get to know the patterns of what's going on with them," said Estes Park resident Dianne Pliska. "In the fall, you are very cautious of the rut, and in the spring, you are extremely cautious of the babies being born."

Pliska lives near the latest elk on human attack. An unsuspecting man walked out a door at the complex where she lives on Manford and was attacked and stomped by a mother elk. The injured man was taken to a hospital.

He had not seen a calf. It followed four other incidents during the day when local police officers were called to the area because of aggressive elk.

"Stomping is rarer, I would say, but we do see a cow elk will chase people from an area around their calf, but stomping them is a bit more uncommon," Kara Van Hoose, spokesperson for Colorado Parks and Wildlife, has told CBS Colorado. More often, says Van Hoose, a mother elk will give chase as a first line of defense.

The mother elk and baby were not hazed because they moved off to a wildland area on their own. CPW does not cull elk who are engaging in natural behavior like protecting their young, or males attacking people during the rut in the fall.

Signs are regularly posted in Estes Park warning people of the dangers from elk. But tourists don't have the base of knowledge locals do.

"As we came around the corner, we didn't see the baby, and the mama let us know it was there and we needed to back up a little bit," said Dusty Trolley, a visitor from South Carolina on Thursday. Trolley, his wife, and children learned quickly. But they were still happy to have seen the elk and how they live in Colorado.

"Really cool to see all of these elk out here doing their thing," said Trolley.