Purple Prairie Majesty

Wildlife management

Elk near Turnbull National Wildlife Refuge have strange markings this spring.

In mid-April, Washington Fish and Wildlife Department researcher Woody Myers flew in a helicopter and shot 15 of the elk with harmless paint balls.

The purple dye that stains their hair will help him study the area’s elk population.

“The dye is the same product the Israeli government uses in crowd control,” Myers said. “They splatter this stuff on the crowd, then go around later and arrest people with the purple stain on their skin.