The bulls are in their rut this time of year and can be ornery.
By Lisa Chmelecki
Staff Writer

AUBURN – Police coaxed an 800-pound moose back into the woods Monday after it wandered into the city in search of a mate.

The bull moose was first spotted in the woods behind Emerson Toyota on Center Street. Auburn Animal Control Officer Bentley Rathbun responded immediately, but the moose was gone when he arrived.

Later in the morning, motorists on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Bridge reported that a moose was running back and forth on the other side of the fence along the bridge.

Rathbun positioned himself between the moose and the traffic and walked east toward North River Road in an attempt to lead the animal into the woods and away from Center Street.

The moose followed Rathbun into the woods at one point, but it eventually made its way back out.

Sun Journal photographer Jose Leiva was driving on the bridge when he spotted the moose coming out of the woods and darting into the street about 100 yards from the on-ramp for the bridge.

Leiva drove onto the shoulder, then watched as another driver slammed on his brakes to avoid hitting the animal.

“I don’t know how it didn’t get hit,” Leiva said. “It just kind of shot across the road.”

By lunch time, the moose had disappeared into the woods between North River Road and Center Street, and police were hoping that it would not return at night when it would be harder for motorists to see it.

“It was looking for love in all the wrong places,” said Maine Warden Service officer Rick Stone, who responded to the scene after the moose disappeared.

Stone was referring to rutting season, the time of year when some bull moose travel for miles looking for mates.

Sunday morning, a Portland police officer shot and killed a bull moose in front of a crowd of people. The moose was standing in shallow water near the shore and a popular walking and running trail that circles the cove.

The decision to shoot the moose upset many of the spectators. Many wondered why police hadn’t tranquilized the animal.

Mark Latti, a spokesman for the Inland Fisheries and Wildlife Department, said tranquilizing the moose was not a option because too many people were close by.

It takes about 20 minutes after the dart is shot for the tranquilizer to take effect, and the moose could have become enraged and run toward the road or the people, Latti said.

In addition, Latti said, male moose have a reputation of being unpredictable and aggressive during rutting season.

In Newry recently, a bull moose charged a hunter and used its antlers to throw the man in the air. Another moose in Portland charged toward a group of people before running into the woods.

For police and game wardens, Latti said, it is best to get the moose back into the woods by getting in front of them, by blocking other paths or by frightening them with a siren or loud noise.

In some cases, such as the situation in Auburn Monday morning, it works. Other times, things don’t go as well.

“Moose, being what they are, sometimes do not cooperate,” Latti said. “And an animal of that size can kind of go where it wants.”

lchmelecki@sunjournal.com

Copy the Story Link