An interesting story in this morning's paper:
Wife stops moose stomping with shovel

As I've noted in other posts, moose aren't usually agressive, but can be dangerous if they are agitated. It is quite common to see moose, especially in winter. Generally, if you just leave them alone and keep your distance there is no problem.

A couple of years ago my wife and I had a scary encounter one night when skiing on one of our local in town trails. We inadvertently got too close to a mamma moose and baby. Our dog may also have agravated mamma. No one got stomped, but it was tense for a minute.

Some years back (in the 90's I think), a man was stomped to death on the UAA campus. It was inadvertently caught on video, which I saw at an wildlife safety class. (Someone can probably find it on Youtube.) He was new to Alaska, and was just walking by on the sidewalk, close to the moose. The moose turned and started kicking him. He went down and the moose started to turn away. He started to get back up, obviously disoriented, and the moose turned and stomped him to death. It turned out that some people had been throwing snow balls at the moose earlier.

Good story. I appreciate the calm rational attitude of the couple, very clearly experienced Alaskans, in their future plans.

What a terrific story!

She did what had to be done. Love it. I could see my wife doing this, especially if it was hurting one of the dogs. Females, of all species, protecting their loved ones are downright dangerous.

Wow! NOW I am impressed!

I find this piece of information relevant for all of us:



Even if you manage to stay on top of a stressfull situation you can't expect your brain to function as normal. In a state of alert you can do amazing things physically, but fine motor skills and complex cognitive skills are way below normal.

Good story, but I am NOT going to EDC a shovel!

So .. if your wife stops hitting the moose with the shovel,
who's she gonna' hit instead?

Just saying :-)

BTW, you are very lucky to see moose.
I've never seen one of those animals.
I've been lucky enough to see a lot of other wild animals ... but have never made it to moose country.

Pete2

MD-the shovel is not the solution here. Consider hiring an 85 year old alaskan school teacher to back your play. Local alternative might be an ER night nurse.


I would recommend marrying one, but that might be more hazardous than mucking about with an enraged moose.

That's why I married a pediatrician. They're always happy.

Pediatricians are an excellent choice as survival companions. Wide ranging diagnostic skills, a down to earth clinical approach, boundless patience, and an immune system strengthened by constant exposure to virus-dripping plague monkeys.