Moose Mauling....well not really....

[doug1980]

My wife is 8 months prego and decided to head down to the mailbox yesterday. Well she was gone for about 5 minutes which was unusual so I went to investigate thinking the worst. I seen two moose walking by the huge snow pile near the mailbox but did not see my wife. I found her hiding behind the snow pile in knee high snow. I guess when the moose headed towards her they scared her. Only in Alaska I spose. I had to laugh but at the same time it was a bit scary. The mailbox is only 100 feet from our house and now she will not get the mail. She is still mad about it and told all her family that she was almost mauled by a moose. I tried to tell her they would not have done anything to her but she won't hear that. Gotta love her though.

[canid]

hrm: moose vs 8 months pregnant woman...

i think my money's gotta go on your wife doug.

in seriousness; sorry to hear she had a scare. don't mean to make light of her fright.

[doug1980]

hrm: moose vs 8 months pregnant woman...

i think my money's gotta go on your wife doug.

in seriousness; sorry to hear she had a scare. don't mean to make light of her fright.

Yeah I think so too.

[your_comforting_company]

Moose get pretty big. She's in a vulnerable state. She made a smart decision if you ask me. Give her a pat on the back for me, then you can make all the jokes you want. Self preservation is on the top of all our lists.

[Camp10]

Well, we were out scouting for my moose hunt in 2003 and we had a bull try to take on my truck! I dont think I have seen them very aggressive this time of year but I understand her wanting to get out of it's way.

I think she is just smart enough to know how to make you get the mail from now on!

[Rick]

Who knows, next week she might find you hiding behind the snow pile. Glad she's okay.

[nell67]

Doug,glad she is ok,scary stuff for a preggo,I can attest to that.


WHen I was 8 months with my last one,I worked as a part time milker on a dairy farm,which meant getting up at 3 am and sanitizing all the equipment again before heading out to open the gates to let the cows up to the milking parlor.

Sometimes,you would have to walk the barn to make sure all the girls came up to the que barn,one cold a$$ morning,they were being lazy,and I had to round them up and send them up to the que,they had a cow there that wouldn't rebreed,and kept coming into heat every 14 days vs. the norm of 28,and she became more "aggressive" with each cycle,to the point that she wanted to mount anything she saw,and this morning,she decided I was her target,luckily,there were a few stalls that were closed off in the barn and I made a dash for one of them and managed to clear the top and drop into the stall before she made it to me.

She still tried,literally climbing the wall of that stall,and she wouldn't leave either.

3 hours later,the farmer called my house wondering why I hadn't shown up to milk,and after being informed that I had left on time,the barn was swarmed with the farm hands and the farmer,and the cow was put down,they couldn't run her away from the barn and she went after the farm hands as well. SCary sh#t!.

[RobertRogers]

Moose can be very dangerous, just as any large animal, cow, or horse - however she has a much greater chance being hit by a car while walking to the mailbox than having one of those moose actually attack her.

Especially if she leaves the moose alone.

My experience with moose is that they sometimes will approach you much the same way as a horse defending its territory will - in order to scare you off. Then the moose will either stop its advance and stare you down or veer off in another direction. Merely trying to scare you away.

Now of course, there are exceptions to the rule and no doubt some may chime in with their own personal close escapes with moose. What I can say is this: I live in a moose infested area where there are often just about as many moose as there are people. And it is an area highly visited by tourists, hikers, and hunters. Only just yesterday I met a moose walking toward me on an old logging road. The moose merely stepped off the road and went a ways into the forest where it stopped and watched me.

Now the inexperienced may be afraid of such an encounter with this huge wild animal. But as with anything, experience will enlighten and once you are accustomed to sharing your property with this great creature you can learn to enjoy it.

Interactions between moose and people are frequent. If moose were very dangerous the bones of hundreds of people would litter these mountains. Such is not the case.

Even considering that many people will do dumb things such as approach full grown adult moose with calves in order to get pictures or attempt to walk within a few feet of standing moose instead of walking around them, there are exceedingly few victims of moose attacks.

On the rare occasion a moose attacks a human, the press goes wild because this makes a great story and sells alot of newspapers. I'll be the majority of the time the person who was attacked should be given one of those "Darwin Awards" for doing something dumb.

Like I mentioned, she should be 1000% more afraid of being hit by a car when walking to the mail box than of any moose she encounters.

Moose are not predators. However if they feel threatened they may be dangerous. The best thing to do is learn to live with them and let them be.