Elk Spotted Appearing to Sip From Wine Bottle

— -- An elk in Colorado was spotted holding on to perhaps the very last remnant of a Thanksgiving celebration in his mouth.

Lori Vina Guelich photographed the elk on Wednesday gripping a wine bottle that she said the elk snatched from a recycling bin in her Evergreen, Colo., neighborhood.

“I found the elk nudging something and got closer and saw he had taken something out of my neighbor’s recycling bin,” said Vina Guelich, who saw the elk as she was driving home.

“He did a quick pick-up with his mouth like he was taking a drink,” she said. “I grabbed my phone and went snap, snap, snap and got it.”

Vina Guelich says it is not uncommon for elks to be roaming the neighborhood, but seeing an elk with a bottle of 2008 Cabernet Sauvignon was a first.

The elk lost interest after a few seconds, according to Vina Guelich, and went on its way on the snow-covered road.

“I got out and checked the wine bottle and it was all still intact,” she said. “He didn’t chomp through so he was safe.”

Vina Guelich posted her photos on Facebook, where they quickly went viral and were picked up by local news stations.

“My kids always say, ‘Put your camera away. Nobody cares about pictures of elks,’” she said of her penchant for taking photos of the wildlife near her home. “Now they’re like, ‘How did people see [your photos] in California?’”