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LOGAN — At around 6:30 Wednesday morning, North Park police got several calls that there was a moose running through a neighborhood near 400 East and 1800 North.
North Park Police Officer Lance Wilkinson responded to the call and pursued the moose with his vehicle until help arrived. "It wasn't the best option, but there weren't many options," he said.
Wilkinson found the moose in a church parking lot, but failed to contain it there on his own.
Law enforcement and animal control from various area sheriff's offices arrived soon after to help.
Alicia Watteyne of Logan certainly didn't expect to see a moose of all things, walking down her neighborhood streets on her commute to Walmart this morning. "We were just heading out, gonna turn left to head to Walmart, and we saw the cop cars and saw the moose and its was kind of running around," she said.
It took a lot of muscle to contain the large animal. Department of Wildlife Resources' Conservation Officer Matt Burgess and a team arrived shortly after the moose began to lose his energy. Following a street closure for public safety purposes, Burgess shot the moose with a tranquilizer. "I shot it in the shoulder, right in the muscle is usually where we'd like to have placed the shot. It was a very good outcome" It generally takes a minute to a minute and a half for the tranquilizer dart to take affect.
Watteyne explains "It was fun, I knew they weren't hurting it because I saw the big [tranquilizer] dart sticking out of it, so we were excited! I don't know what we're gonna do the rest of the day that's gonna top it"
Moose often find themselves outcast from their mothers pretty soon after birth, as the mothers usually tend to care for their most current child. Darren DeBloois, a Biologist with the DWR believes that this particular moose was feeling lonely. "[This moose] looks like a yearling bull, probably been forced off from its mother. Sometimes they find their way to town to get away from the bigger bulls that don't want them around."
The moose has been given antiparasitic drugs, has been outfitted with ear tags, and will be transported to the southeast region of Utah.
