Monday, January 12, 2009

MOOSE ON THE LOOSE

We came home to find our copy of the local news scattered all over the yard by the wind. When I gathered it up, re-assembled and flattened it out, I found some real front page news. It seems a bull moose had wandered into a subdivision and caused quite a lot of excitement before he was tranquilized and put on a sled.

The neighbors turned out to help pull the sled to a trailer where conservation officers loaded him up and hauled him back to the wild.
This is not so unusual for our town. Moose occasionally meander up from the river during the night to find their return path blocked by houses and fences. Wildlife officers are called to escort the lost creature out of town. We watched one such escapade from our window as men on snowmobiles herded a long-legged moose through the neighbor’s garden. He left footprints the size of dinner plates where he stomped through their snow-covered flower beds.

Early one morning a few summers ago I was riding my bike through a nearby rural area and saw a young moose grazing in a farmer’s wheat field. I got a photo before he calmly stepped over a fence and hurried away.

10 comments:

Acornmoon said...

What an amazing place you live in! That must have been a sight, I have never seen a moose.

The Weaver of Grass said...

What an indignity for a bull moose to be put on a sled and pulled through the snow! I have only ever seen moose in the far distance - elk a plenty but not moose when I have visited Canada. He is not pretty but he is a magnificent specimen.

Katiejane said...

OK, I'm catching up on you too. My computer is trying so hard to die and I keep giving it CPR until I can coax it back to life. Gotta get a new one.

Anyway, I just want to say WOW, what a wonderful area you live in! All this wildlife right at your doorstep. I'm jealous. All we have are squrrels and raccoons. This is neat. I hope all the animals can be relocated without harm.

Leenie said...

Moose are about the only creatures that have to be persuaded to leave. And, I guess, people are really the ones who are trespassing since the moose were here first. Squirrels did not live in town until only a few years ago. Now they think they own the place.

Kappa no He said...

I miss moose. And thanks for commenting on my blog. I love yours. I'm going to go read some of your older posts now...

Terrie

Elizabeth said...

What an adventure!
Yes, he looks a bit miserable on the sled.......

Susan said...

A happy Moose tale.

Moose medicine

www.linsdomain.com/totems/pages/moose.htm

ps it wasn't my imac it was my old powerbook and thankfully this morning she has made a complete recovery.

Unknown said...

Things like that make me miss living there. Right on the edge of the wild... instead of living in the middle of a zoo like I do.....
I could show you pictures, but well.... your moose is better than my Idahofonites any day!

Sarah said...

Wow! Moose are so impressively large and lovely. Poor thing, having the indignity of being pulled around! I hope they are not very dangerous as that would spoil my romantic impression of them. I can just imagine one wandering around urban London-there would be hysteria!

Woman in a Window said...

This is cool. Even though we live amongst the moose I've only ever seen a few. I did lose a coworker and friend to an accident with a moose though. They're tricky things on the highway. We're more likely to have runins with bears. They run through the community from time to time.