Gardening with ELK! Denver foothills.

My kitchen window is large and looks out onto a level, but rocky, piece of ground. It's about eye level with the window. I have some interesting plants, lavender, tiny crocus & hyacinth, some succulents, yarrow....but I would like to get more creative out there. Maybe a couple of sizable agaves? The lavendar is re-seeding, which is good, but...it needs more. The window faces west, so is shaded in the .am. but gets strong sun in the afternoon. I'd love to have some alpine, rock-garden type plants, but one of the issues is elk, which are all over the place here. They will occasionally tromp around out there...even LICKING the kitchen window sometimes. There's a low rock wall around this spot but it doesn't really deter them. --Any great ideas for fool-proof, not-too-expensive, succulents that elk will avoid? (They never touch the lavender, which I appreciate!)

Try to find a list of Rabbit-resistant plants, or deer-resistant. Elk come closer to grazing like rabbits than browzing like deer. Spines won't always deter Rabbits (they love Texas Red Yucca, and will nibble on short-spined cactus).
Plus with elk, you have them blundering around, tromping on things. You might try a temporary electric fence, then when they get used to not walking straight through the flower bed, you might be able to take it down. Or a scratchy hedge? They can jump, but don't like to. If you have a lawn, you probably won't be able to keep them off that