Two stomped by angry moose

MAT-SU — A pair of Valley residents walking children to their bus stops required medical treatment after being attacked by moose Thursday.

Alaska State Troopers hadn’t released many details of the attacks as of press time, but were warning people to be wary of moose this weekend. Sunday will see an influx of people to the Willow area, where one of the attacks occurred, for the restart of the Iditarod.

“Anybody who’s going outside for any reason needs to understand that the moose are angry,” said AST spokeswoman Megan Peters. “The more they see people while they’re angry the more angry they’re going to get.”

Peters said both people who were stomped on Thursday — one was in Willow, the other in Talkeetna — sought medical attention. One was injured in the chest, the other in the lower legs.

She said law enforcement has fielded lots of emergency calls lately for help with moose problems.

“All you hear about on the radios is moose calls — moose on decks, moose on trails, aggressive, charging,” Peters said.

Alaska Department of Fish and Game Wildlife Biologist Lem Butler said moose calls are keeping people busy in his office as well.

“Moose are particularly aggressive this winter, and it’s directly related to the deep snow that we have,” Butler said. “Our staff is non-stop answering those phone calls and going out to help out in situations where they can help out.”

The state has recently issued permits to the Alaska Moose Federation to allow that group to feed moose and hopefully get them away from populated areas. Butler said the state also has a program called Hot Spot Hunt that issues permits to hunters to shoot problem animals.

“We issue a permit for hunters who registered back in October for the hunt to go out to areas where we’re having problems,” Butler said. “If we can have people remove those moose that are causing problems and get them into someone’s freezer, we consider that to be a good step.”

In the Thursday stompings, Peters said troopers did not put down either animal.

“In both instances they looked for the moose and were unable to find one. But clearly it had been there,” Peters said.

In the troopers’ press release, Alaska Wildlife Troopers Sgt. Doug Massie says the trouble around school bus stops has reached a level where people might want to change their behavior.

“It’s at a point where I think people should consider driving their kids to a bus stop instead of walking them,” Massie said. “This winter, moose seem to be more likely to charge to protect their turf. The deep snow has them hungry and mad. People need to be vigilant while outdoors.”

Butler also urges vigilance.

“People should know that if they’re in an immediate life-threatening situation they can shoot a moose in defense of life and property. They just have to report it to the state,” Butler said.

Fish and Game can be reached at 746-6300. If the situation isn’t so dire they should call it in, give the animal a wide berth and let neighbors know to be wary. Also, don’t feed the animals.

“Moose can attack people that don’t have food if they’ve been conditioned to getting fed,” Butler said.

A moose that is upset will put its ears back, raise its hackles, lick its lips and move toward a person.

“Running from a moose isn’t actually a bad idea if you can get out of its immediate area,” Butler said.

Or, if you can, run behind a tree or a car or a house or a shed.

“Keep something large between you and the moose, basically,” Butler said. “Another thing to keep in mind is to not block escape routes.”

Contact reporter Andrew Wellner at andrew.wellner@frontiersman.com or 352-2270.