Tammy and Jeff Grimnes looked forward to their daily interactions with Buttons the elk.
For many years, Buttons would stop in the enclosed porch of the Grimnes’ home several times a day.
Her husband “even brought her (a) brush,” she said. “She loved to be brushed.”
Nate Tamarack was not as fond of Buttons. Tamarack, who now lives in Idaho but spends several months in Cle Elum working as a fly-fishing guide, said Buttons would get into his boats and try to eat things out of them.
Good or bad, Buttons’ frequent human contact was of concern for the state Department of Fish and Wildlife, which relocated Buttons to the Mellotte elk feeding site in the Wenas Valley north of Selah on Friday. Buttons had roamed the rural area along State Route 10 between Ellensburg and Cle Elum and interacting with neighbors since at least 2015. She garnered national attention when she wandered into the Hart Road Fire command post in July 2016 and nuzzled the firefighters.