Mixed-Up Moose Moved From Bangor Back To Own Neck of the Woods
Most people think they have to travel deep into the woods to spot a moose. That was not the case this week, as one happened to visit Bangor, and then got stuck.
Authorities started to get calls that a young moose had been spotted down by Frank's Bakery off of State Street.
The moose then made his way to a backyard off of East Summer Street, off of Hancock, where he became confused as he had fenced himself in.
That's when Maine Department of Inland Fisheries Moose Biologist, Lee Kantar, was called in to help.
"A young bull moose that somehow got twisted around in Bangor, you know, just like somebody who this is their first time they've ever been to this state, and he couldn't find his way out. Because of the neighbors there, and all the fences, they were able to basically contain the bull. So I got a call from the Warden Service to come in and immobilize the moose and to drive it out of town."
Kantar explained that typically removing a moose from a place it's not meant to be, can be quite the operation. And sometimes the moose aren't able to be relocated because of illness or injury. This, however, was not the case.
"Sometimes moose come into town and there's something wrong with them. This moose was a really good candidate. My health assessment of it was that it was a young bull moose in fine shape. It could have come down the Penobscot and just got stuck in Bangor."
Kantar, who had been up in Oakfield when he got the call about Bangor's moose situation, said he turned right back around and came zipping back into town.
"Many hands, with a moose, make light work...It was in a tough place, near a daycare center. Immobilizing it with chemicals, and putting it under anesthesia, I was able to do that. And then, with a great crew of Wardens and Biologists, we were able to load that in the back of my truck (using a winch and a jet-sled) and we moved it out of town to some land trust area and released it."
Kantar said the crew did put a GPS collar on him, so they can track the moose's movement twice a day until the collar wears off (it's made of surgical tubing that's meant to rot and fall off eventually.)
"As of today, he's already left town and gone another 5 miles north of where we relocated him. So he's on the move! You know, it's the breeding season, and even though he's a young bull, he's feeling it and he's gonna be wandering, looking for cows. He's gone."
Maine's moose biologist said in this particular case, everyone did everything right; They kept their distance, called authorities, and then left plenty of room for the professionals to do their thing.
"You know with all wildlife, people think you can approach these things closely, and really, it's better for everyone involved, people and wildlife, to keep your distance. That's why they made binoculars. You don't want to approach the animal. You want to get in touch with law enforcement as quickly as possible. The state patrol usually contacts the Warden Service. And then they call me up."
Kantar said that the landowner even provided him with some nice pillows to cushion the head of the moose as he was moved out of town.
"Obviously there are a lot of elements that take place where you need to be safe for the people who are working the moose, the people who are watching, and then for the moose itself. So you've got a lot of elements to pull together to get that moose out of town. "
Kantar said about a year ago in August, he had to remove a young cow from the Kenduskeag stream, and he was glad that was also a successful relocation effort for the moose.
He says, in this situation, it was another happy ending.
"We get the job done. We go in there and if things hopefully work out right, we can protect people and get the moose out to a safe place."