An elk of a different color

Vic the elk is looking for friends.

The life-sized fiberglass elk was purchased this year by Experience Colorado Springs at Pikes Peak to represent the region as part of this summer’s Rocky Mountain Elk Tour, a public art project in Teller County. He’s currently at the Cripple Creek Visitor Center. But he’s also hanging around online: Experience Colorado Springs, the local convention and visitors bureau, on Monday announced the launch of Vic’s MySpace page.

Among those in his “friend space” are Budgie, an Australian bird spending his summer at the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo, and Leonardo. As in actor and environmentalist Leonardo DiCaprio. Lisa Amend, communications manager for Experience Colorado Springs and Vic’s publicist, acknowledges she — or Vic — never actually talked with DiCaprio. But a friend request to his MySpace site, which Amend figures is maintained by a staff member DiCaprio has never met, was accepted. It was exciting news, she says, for the female staffers at Experience Colorado Springs, “all of whom promptly burst into flames at the mere mention of Leo’s name.”