Portland parks can't tell a deer from an elk?
A reader points out that along with this press release came this photo, along with a caption, identifying the animal in question as an elk:
Forest Park BioBlitz, May 2012. Courtesy: Portland Parks & Recreation, Portland, OR. A young elk contemplates its next move after encountering a fallen tree.
The reader says it's a black-tailed deer, not an elk. Given that the whole point of the exercise in question was to catalog the different species present in Forest Park, it's not exactly a confidence-building development.
| Posted at 4:05 PM | Permalink |
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Comments (19)
It's not either. It's a spotted owl!
Posted by zonedar | June 7, 2012 4:10 PM
And the poor dears couldn't even figure out that "its" a "his"!
Posted by Mojo | June 7, 2012 4:37 PM
I'm just waiting for the survey to identify brontosaurs, Vorlons, and Pink Bunkadoos, too. Someone at Parks and Recreation really needs to stop freebasing Preparation H.
Posted by Texas Triffid Ranch | June 7, 2012 4:41 PM
That's really pathetic. Good to know we only hire trained, experienced professionals.
I've seen a lot of deer in Forest Park, as well as several actual elk, and a black bear - among other critters.
Posted by Max | June 7, 2012 5:13 PM
...as well as several actual elk...
There's a whole herd of elk that migrate up the gully that parallels Germantown every so often. I've seen them just below the Skyline tavern, so it's easy to believe they cross Skyline into Forest Park.
Bicyclists beware - they are "actual" elk - and bigger than you...
...way bigger.
Posted by cc | June 7, 2012 5:19 PM
It's settled then. This is a black-tailed elk.
Posted by Bill McDonald | June 7, 2012 5:23 PM
A black tale, if I ever heard one.
Posted by Allan L. | June 7, 2012 5:34 PM
It's like the "experienced professionals" in CoP that identified themselves as environmental experts.
They identified bulrushes growing in a street ditch as proof that the whole surrounding area was a "wetland" and "sensitive". Bulrushes grow about anywhere rain might collect for a day or two. The land right up to 1 ft wide street ditch had a slope of 45 degrees and that was included in the "wetland area", thus an environmental zone. Go figure.
"Experts" can call things anything they want to meet their agenda.
Posted by lw | June 7, 2012 6:12 PM
Maybe it's 1/2 Elk and 1/2 Deer. Now, wouldn't that be weird and explain why it's in Portland?
Posted by Abe | June 7, 2012 6:20 PM
If it is not an Elk, maybe it is an Odd Fellow.
Posted by John | June 7, 2012 7:43 PM
With that thick of a budding rack and such a long rear leg, I'd say he's an elk. Or maybe he's gotten into some compost buckets and just commutes by bicycle.
Posted by Mojo | June 7, 2012 8:30 PM
Oh yeah - Anne Elk!
Posted by cc | June 7, 2012 9:28 PM
lol!! leave it to the state of multnomah
Posted by cynthia | June 7, 2012 11:29 PM
Why should we assume the city hired biologists to conduct the survey ?
Posted by tankfixer | June 8, 2012 7:56 AM
They prob knew it was a male black tail deer but in this city you'd get in trouble as it may actually be transgender deer that has takes offense when "it's" race if brought up
Posted by Jason | June 8, 2012 7:58 AM
next up...jack-a-lopes!
Posted by portland native | June 8, 2012 8:33 AM
Is it possible that we are just too jaded? Maybe we are being too hard on the poor Portland Parks & Recreation folks. After hearing some excerpts from Bureau of Labor Statistics Acting Commissioner Josh Galvin explaining to House Oversight Committee Chairman Darrell Issa what accounts as a “green job,” the deer may very well be an elk according to the current administration!
Posted by Rob | June 8, 2012 9:42 AM
Not to put too fine of a point on it, but (since this place is swarming with lawyers)...
Elk or Wapiti(Cervus canadensis in N. America) is a KIND of deer. NOT to be confused with what the Europeans call, Elk (Alces alces, we call Moose).
The Black Tailed Deer (Odocoileus hemionus), is merely a kind of Mule Deer (Columbian Black Tail, here) ...and is NOT any kind of Elk.
None of these is that difficult to identify in the field by the ignotus publicus famulus.
Man, I hope I got that spelling correctus.
Posted by ltjd | June 8, 2012 2:23 PM
Hi,
Just fyi, none of our volunteer wildlife experts mis-identified any elk or deer during the 2012 BioBlitz for Forest Park Wildlife. But the person who wrote the press release for the event did. Both elk and black-tailed deer were seen in the park during the 24 hour event.
John Deshler
Forest Park Wildlife Study Coordinator
Portland Parks & Recreation
Posted by John Deshler | June 11, 2012 12:16 PM