Moose on loose in west Edmonton backyards tranquillized, removed
Last Updated: Monday, April 20, 2009 | 12:48 PM MT
CBC News
The yearling moose wandered through a west Edmonton neighbourhood Monday morning before its capture by Fish and Wildlife officers. (CBC)A young moose was tranquillized by Alberta Fish and Wildlife officers after wandering through a west Edmonton neighbourhood on Monday morning.
The animal was found in the area of 149th Street north of Stony Plain Road.
The lanky-legged animal was sighted in the backyards of people's houses, nibbling on trees and hopping effortlessly over chain-link fences as police cruisers followed it through the neighbourhood.
The moose was eventually tranquillized in Mouhamad Tarbine's yard.
"I just saw a moose lying down here in my yard. My son was very excited about that and we took a few pictures of it," he said.
Tarbine said his little boy didn't want wildlife officials to take the moose away.
The moose likely came out of the nearby McKinnon ravine, said Fish and Wildlife officer Doug Nothstein.
"This is a yearling, last year's calf, and the cows right now are going to calf pretty soon again in May, so they kick last year's calf out," he said.
"They're just like a teenager kicked out of the home for the first time. They're just stupid and they run around lost so they usually cause us the most grief."
The moose was given a light tranquillizer and is expected to wake up again in about three hours, Nothstein said.
The animal will be taken to the area around Blackfoot Lake outside of Edmonton.
If people happen to see a moose in their neighbourhood, they need to keep their distance and call police or the government's Report a Poacher line, Nothstein said.
