An Idaho traffic jam: Herd of huge elk holds up cars near Hailey

It was a traffic jam fit for an Idaho mountain town — and the video has reached as far as Holland, thanks to Facebook.

On Dec. 19, Hailey resident Toni Marcroft uploaded a video on Facebook of a handful of bull elk slowly sauntering across the highway just north of Hailey. The massive deer mosey across the road before gracefully leaping a fence on the other side, as cars idle and wait for the roadway to clear.

The video was shared by a “Hailey, Idaho” Facebook page, earning more than 42,000 shares and over 2 million views. The page’s administrators said in the comments that the video had reached more than 4 million people. It was also shared by an Idaho community page called “Meanwhile, in Idaho...,” furthering the video’s reach.

Comments on the video ranged from surprised, delighted, annoyed and — of course — hungry, with one commenter bemoaning all the good venison dashing away through the snow.

This story was originally published December 24, 2016 at 12:58 PM with the headline "An Idaho traffic jam: Herd of huge elk holds up cars near Hailey."