Second webcam added for viewers to watch dueling elk
PixCams, an educational organization in Murrysville, installed two new and improved cameras for its live elk webcam at the Elk County Visitor Center in Benezette.
Elk watching continues to grow in popularity as does public interest in the webcams.
The PixCams webcam is one of two live public webcams devoted to documenting elk males dueling during mating season in September and October.
This is the second year that PixCams have operated a live webcams for the Elk Country Visitor Center in Benezette. You can check out the live webcam here.
The Pennsylvania Game Commission also has a live webcam stationed in Elk County, State Game Lands 311, in a field frequented by elk.
In the last decade, the popularity for elk watching has surged with the Elk County Visitor Center attracting more than a half million visitors annually, said John Straitiff, executive director of Pennsylvania Great Outdoors Visitors Bureau.
“It’s one of the top attractions for the area known as the Pennsylvania Great Outdoors region, a heavily forested area in the state that is home to the state’s wild elk herd, Punxsutawney Phil, the Allegheny National Forest and more,” Straitiff said.
Most of the elk herd, estimated at more than 1,400 animals, is found in an 800 square-mile wilderness area in Elk and Cameron counties.
The PA Great Outdoors Visitors Center Bureau offers a downloadable free guide and information on elk watching.
The elk webcams are another way for people to experience elk country, that is why the Elk County Visitor Center partnered with PixCams last year.
“It was fantastic opportunity to do the project last year and we are glad to be back this year,” said Bill Powers, founder of PixCams.
On Wednesday, Powers visited the Elk County Visitor Center elk site and installed improvements to the two cameras that will boost the picture quality and the mobility of the camera for webcam operators to move around.
PixCams, which started wildlife webcamming with the Pittsburgh Hays bald eagles, currently has 18 wildlife cams.
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