Elk roped and rescued from irrigation canal near Bloomfield

George Schmitt, a ConocoPhillips employee, always scans an irrigation ditch near Bloomfield that runs along the road he takes to work. Schmitt said he enjoys the view of the canal as he crosses the bridge that spans the waterway. But when he made the drive on Friday something in the water caught his eye. A bull elk was struggling to stay afloat as it tried to find a place to climb out of the canal. Schmitt called the New Mexico Department of Game and Fish and then called his friend, Brad Parker, who drove to the canal in his truck to help Schmitt save the elk. "I got my tow rope out and I made a lariat out of it," Schmitt said. He could tell the elk was tired and it kept swimming to the location where the canal water slows beneath the hillside. "He was almost ready to give up," Schmitt said...more