Death Feeds Life: Cameras Capture Wolves, Other Critters Picking Elk Carcass Clean

A bull elk’s lingering death was tough to watch, but video taken next to its carcass over the course of about six weeks provides a rare view into how death feeds into life in Wyoming, a wildlife filmmaker said.

Jake Davis of Jackson told Cowboy State Daily that he got the unexpected opportunity of a lifetime early this year, in the depths of winter, when he spotted a wounded bull elk languishing near Togwotee Pass on the Bridger-Teton National Forest.

The bull had nasty wounds on its hindquarters, the telltale signs of a wolf attack, he said.

“I thought maybe the elk was hunted by wolves, and escaped,” he said.

It was tough to watch the elk suffer, but Davis stayed back and let nature take its course.

After the bull was dead, he moved in and set up several trap cameras (video and stil