Property owner denys allegations; says elk have caused hundreds of dollars in damage.
WOLVERINE -- A Cheboygan county woman - after sustaining hundreds of dollars in damage caused by elk - says she is now being wrongfully investigated for baiting the elk.
Vicki Reinhardt owns 10 acres of land on the border of the Pigeon River State Forest in Wolverine. In the 14 years she's owned the land that she shares with her horses, she says she has seen only 4-5 elk.
But this year? "It got worse," Reinhardt said. "At any time I could have anywhere upwards of 30 elk here."
Reinhardt says she doesn't know where they came from but she could tell they were hungry. In their rampage to find food, the elk were causing hundreds of dollars in damage.
She says she tried everything she could think of to keep the elk away, including putting up more fencing that would only get knocked down as quick as it would get put back up.
"We put up high tensile fencing with a ten thousand volt fencer and that lasted one day," Reinhardt said.
Tarping used to cover and protect the bales of hay proved to be of no use as Reinhardt says the elk literally chewed through it, later eating half of the hay supply she purchased to feed her horses.
Reinhardt says she consulted with the Department of Natural Resources for other solutions. From the DNR she obtained firecracker bullets.
"They would work for about the first two shots and then they'd be right back and finally I'd come out and shoot at them and they'd be like 'ah, whatever, hi we're here, thanks for dinner," Reinhardt said.
Reinhardt says she even resorted to opening up her property to hunters free of charge, of which four elk bulls were killed. But, with snow on the ground and food hard to find, nothing seemed to really keep the elk away.
Reinhardt says she thought her problems were going away with the melting snow. That is until about a week and a half ago when she received a letter from the Michigan Department of Agriculture.
"I was horrifed," Reinhardt said.
The letter dated March 16, 2009 stated that a complaint had been filed against her alleging that she was baiting deer and elk.
A spokeswoman with the Department of Agriculture confirms there is an open investigation into the matter, but for that reason declined to comment any further.
7&4 News has submitted a Freedom of Information Act request to the Department of Agriculture to obtain a copy of the complaint filed.
The letter states that Reinhardt would be contacted for an onsite inspection, however she says she has received no other correspondance.
With no nearby neighbors, Reinhardt says she's not sure who filed the complaint or why. The allegation of baiting the elk and deer for hunting she says are simply not true.
What Reinhardt says she does fear is next year. She says without action taken she is concerned that the elk will again return in the winter when there is little food and cause even more damage.
