Park rangers at Arizona’s Petrified Forest National Park are in a tizzy after a “unicorn” was spotted on one of their trail cameras. The park’s social media pages were flooded with comments from excited visitors who were convinced that they had found a real-life magical creature. Rumors started swirling, and the hashtag #UnicornSightingsAtThePetrifiedForest began trending on Twitter.
However, it turns out that this “unicorn” is just a plain old elk – albeit, a male yearling who happened to shed one of his antlers a little too early. And can you believe it? People are still excited about this!
“It’s not every day that we get to see a unicorn in real life!” exclaimed one visitor, completely missing the point that this was actually just an elk.
But social media users were quick to call out the mistake, with some even joking that they don’t know the difference between a mythical creature and a woodland animal anymore. “That’s not a unicorn, it’s an elk,” one Twitter user wrote. “In fact, it’s more of a “unideer” since it only has one antler.”
The park’s director, Bob Wiltshire, tried to clarify the situation in a statement to the press. “Some of our visitors may have mistaken the elk for a unicorn due to the way the camera captured the image and the elk’s unique appearance caused by its missing antler. However, I assure you that there are no unicorns roaming around Petrified Forest National Park.”
But with so many people convinced that they’ve witnessed a mythical creature, it’s hard to know whether this statement will be enough to quell the excitement.
One woman even claimed that the elk was a “sign from the universe” and that it had a special message for her. “I was feeling really lost and hopeless before I saw this unicorn/elk,” she explained. “But now I feel like everything is going to be okay. The universe is telling me to never give up and keep believing in magic.”
It’s safe to say that this unusual “sighting” has caused quite a stir in the normally peaceful Petrified Forest National Park. While it’s always fun to believe in magical creatures, it’s important to remember that sometimes the most mundane things can be just as fascinating – and in this case, a young male elk with one antler has captured the attention of people all over the world. Maybe we should appreciate the little things a little more often.
