CRAIG, Colo.—In the debate over whether bottled water tastes better than other kinds, Clyde the elk votes for the bottle every time.
Clyde is a domesticated elk who was born and raised on a ranch and lives at the privately run Wyman Living History Museum outside this northwest Colorado city.
It’s not clear who gave him his first bottle of water, but now he spurns the ranch’s well and a 6,000-gallon tank of city water. He wraps his lips around a bottle if it’s proffered by a human.
It might be that Clyde likes the bottle more than the water. Julie Harris, his caretaker, said she sometimes sneaks city water into his bottles to cut costs.
Clyde’s owner, Lou Wyman, said Clyde was bottle-fed after his mother died giving birth.
At the time, Wyman ran an elk ranch, supplying elk meat and hides. The animals’ teeth and antlers went to jewelry-makers.
Wyman got out of the elk business 10 years ago, selling off the herd but keeping the newborn Clyde.
He’s now a massive bull with huge antlers and has become a big attraction at Wyman’s museum. Sometimes he bugles—the male elk’s call—when guests drive up.
“It’s like a greeting,” Wyman said.
