In brushy terrain, elk especially like tender, pulpy elderberry twigs, commonly called elk candy. However, elk will eat a variety of wood pulp fiber, such as willows, alders and mountain maple. Unlike the larger moose, which nips off and digests branches up to a quarter inch in diameter, the smaller elk usually nips off only the very end of the bush, usually at about an eighth of an inch in diameter.
Like most wild animals that subsist to survive, elk naturally seek out the most nutritious foods. Unfortunately, many of these best foods happen to be farmland crops, which put the elk at odds with local farmers. Elk particularly like the highly nutritional alfalfa, though they also like wheat, barley and rye grass. Elk are also not great respecters of fences, and wildlife biologists always have their hands full dealing with elk damage reports from irate ranchers.
