Elk named 'Bob' makes big positive impact in small Vancouver Island town

Youbou, B.C. -

Wendy Stokes is waiting on her front porch, along the main road in Youbou, B.C., for the arrival of Bob.

“Bob is just the icon of Youbou,” Wendy says.

Bob has been regularly visiting Wendy for years.

“I’ll sit outside and have my coffee and I’ll talk to him,” Wendy says. “He’ll make this neigh sound and I’ll do it back.”

Bob — by the way — is an elk.

“One time on the porch, he sneezed. I got it all over. Maybe that’s a blessing, to get sneezed by an elk,” Wendy smiles. “My grandson thought that was really funny.”

Bob leads a herd of Roosevelt elk that live full time in this former mill town. The gang includes Dennis, Mr. Hollywood (because of his “movie-star good looks”) and Howard.

“Right now we call (Howard) Hammock-head,” Wendy says. “Because he has a hammock stuck on his antler on one side.”

She adds that it doesn’t seem to be causing Howard any harm, and his antlers will naturally fall off in the spring (along with the hammock).

Getting tangled up in people’s things is not uncommon for the elk (which is why not everybody’s a fan). Wendy is in charge of contacting the conservation officer if Bob or his bunch get injured or sick.

“If I don’t see (Bob) for a couple days, I worry,” Wendy says.

When that happens, Wendy hops in her car and goes searching for Bob. She knows all the places the elk like to walk (the middle of the main road), want to wade (in the lake beside the dock), and can get stuck (there’s video of Bob’s antlers stuck in Wendy’s patio. When she says, “Turn your head the other way Bob,” he does).

“Now I’m worried a little bit more,” Wendy says. “Because of his aging and the way he looks.”

Bob’s been losing weight and, at almost 12 years old, is approaching the end of an elk’s average life span.

It’s why another Youbou resident, Monica Ash, has decided to launch a fundraiser to create a life-sized carving of Bob to be placed in a local park.

“Bob is sort of a common denominator,” Monica says. “Wether you live in the new part of town, what we call the rich area, or you’ve been here for ages, he brings the community together.”

How the elk does that is hard to articulate.

But then Wendy notices Bob across the street and calls his name, the elk turns and heads in her direction. When a pick-up truck speeds towards him, Wendy says run. Bob runs towards her.

It’s not until the elk finally arrives safely at Wendy’s porch, and the human and the elk exchange their hellos, that you start to realize Bob’s contribution to the community is not about what he does in town, it’s about how he makes people feel inside.

You can see how good Wendy feels when Bob looks her in the eye, lowers his huge head to rest his chin on her small railing, and seems to ask her to pat him.

“Whether you live in a giant city or a small little town, there’s going to be something that brings you all together,” Monica says.

Something that transcends our differences and encourages our humanity. Something that, in Youbou, seems to be an elk named Bob.