COLORADO — For more than two years, residents of Pine, a small town about 30 miles southwest of Denver, have been sending in reports to the Colorado Parks and Wildlife authorities whenever they saw an elk that had somehow shoved its head through a tire. The tire slid down the elk’s neck and became stuck there, locked into place as its antlers developed and branched out. Wildlife authorities wanted to remove the tire, and solicited the public’s help in locating the elk. …Colorado Parks and Wildlife tranquilized the elk, which is 4 and a half years old and weighs 600 pounds. The wildlife officers then sheared off the elk’s antlers so the tire could be pulled over its head. …A saw was unable to cut through the steel in the tire; the antlers will grow back, and the men were racing against the clock before the elk woke up.