To catch a moose
May 27, 2008
EAST WENATCHEE — Wildlife officials shot a young moose with a tranquilizer dart and moved it out of an East Wenatchee neighborhood Monday morning.
“This moose capture, on an easy scale, this was right about in the middle,” state Fish and Wildlife Sgt. Doug Ward said just after the catch. “These things are really unpredictable, and they can be very dangerous. It’s nice to have it in the horse trailer.”
The moose was a female about a year-and-a-half old, said veterinarian Randy Hein.
Ellen Sonnichsen was the first to report seeing the moose, at 5:47 a.m. from her home on North Gale Place.
“She was trotting down the road, minding her own business,” Sonnichsen said. Most of her neighbors were not awake, but “now they’re blinking in disbelief when I tell them.”
“There are tracks to prove it,” she said.
Officers from the East Wenatchee police and the state Fish and Wildlife Department began tracking the animal after a second moose-spotter called RiverCom at 7:07 a.m, dispatchers said.
“They usually just move on through,” Ward said. “We’re going to try to dart this one. We’ve got a horse trailer available and we’ll relocate it.”
“It’s so we can get him safely out of here on a day like today,” said East Wenatchee police officer Christy Patterson about transporting the animal. “It was running around the streets this morning, getting into traffic and kind of causing a havoc, and with Memorial Day traffic …”
Hein darted the moose at about 9:25 a.m. The animal stumbled and fell onto 5th Street near Eastmont Avenue, where officers encircled it with a car blockade.
Hein reversed the tranquilizer with a shot before dropping off the animal at an undisclosed wildlife area, Ward later said.
Ward said moose sightings typically are reported when the animals try to cross the Wenatchee River. Moose captures are rare, he said.
“They all come from the Spokane area,” Ward said. “They radiate out like spokes on a wheel. … They just take off. They’re like the original explorers, and they go on forever.”
Recent Posts
- Fly fishing for carp in the urban waters of Denver
- Spring turkey hunting takes dedication — and a game plan
- Outdoors Notebook: Antelope and elk hunting also approved
- Missouri deer season dates, urban zones change this fall
- Outdoor Life: The final deer hunt
- Four Arrested in Killings of Eagles and Other Protected Birds
- It’s time for trout
- US Bans Commercial Fishing in Arctic as Ice Recedes
- State limits deer hunting
- Bills introduced to change deer hunting
- Turkey hunting: The lowdown on leftover permits
- Proposed Rule Clarifies Hunting Rule Changes at National Wildlife Refuges
- Advantages to Using a Fly Fishing Guide
- Try Striped Bass Fishing
- 15 Carp Fishing Bait Methods To Improve Your Hook Baits!
Categories
Archives
Blogroll
Fish and Wildlife Store
Meta
