Elk water

[shaneharley]

#7039

Will elk drink out of stagnant pond water? Thank you for your input.

[Clay Hayes]

#57585

well, that depends I guess. Most wallows I’ve seen that are being used have at least some slight flow to them. They are little seeps that the elk have pawed out of the hill sides. Some look “stagnate” at first glance but will clear with time.

With that said, I’ve watched cow elk cross a crystal clear flowing stream and walk up slope to drink from a muddy track pocked wallow. maybe there was some mineral they were after..

When someone says stagnate I think of an algae loaded cesspool. But, algae blooms are usually a good sign of excess nutrients, sometimes from ag runoff or lots of cattle, in areas where you wouldn’t usually find elk.

[shaneharley]

#57590

This particular place is a 200 foot by 50 foot pond up high. It is from snow pack run off but it is year round. It has aquatic plants in it along with timber blow downs. The pond has that yellow tinge color to it. I was going to look for tracks but bumped a couple of elk and decided against hanging out in the area…. I have been looking for a spring in the area but the nearest fresh water I know of is a small lake about three quarters of a mile away. Thanks again for any and all help

[David Petersen]

#58145

Shane, “it depends.” The only way you’ll be able to determine if elk are drinking there is to check for tracks. There are so many variables, including not just water quality but exposure/security, proximity to an alternate water source, presence of desirable minerals as Clay suggests, hunting or other human pressure. There’s simply no predicting without checking. While I have never seen elk drink from a shallow mud wallow, which they always pee in, I have seen bulls wallow in the same spring pools they they and other elk drink from. But those have flow-through to clean them up. Go have a look and good luck.

[skifrk]

#59456

I have also seen elk who got used to one water hole, that when it goes dry they would still visit that waterhole before heading down the valley to the full watering hole. They would paw at the dry dirt and eat some of the grass around if before heading down to the full waterhole. Just a little food for thought that if they find a waterhole they like they keep using it.

[Ptaylor]

#62709

I don’t know a lot about elk, can they get most of their water metabolically from the food they eat, like deer and sheep? Or do they need some free water around?

On a side note, its not often I see animals drink water. But last evening I was sitting over a seep and had a beautiful bear come in and take a nice long drink in the pool below me :D. Really pretty bear. And my friend watched a bear this summer sit in a river and blow bubbles for a few minutes…playing?:lol:

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