ROXBURY – Like anyone who has encountered moose in the roadway, Tim Gallant is wise enough to watch the animals pass before driving on. Unfortunately, in Roxbury this year, when one group of moose passes, another is sure to follow.

The former town selectman survived unscathed early Wednesday after his truck slammed into a cow moose on Route 120.

“I’m fine,” Gallant said. “The truck is not, and the moose isn’t, either.”

It happened about 5:30 a.m. as Gallant was driving past an area known as the Moose Pits. The spot is known to be populated by the animals, and drivers will often pull to the side of the road to watch the beasts.

The moose arrived right on schedule as Gallant drove through shortly after sunrise.

“There was a female and her two twins,” he said. “I kind of watched them and then they moved off the roadway. When I got going again, there was another one right in front of me. I didn’t have much time to brake.”

Gallant said he was traveling about 30 mph when his truck struck the moose, which he estimated at between 900 and 1,100 pounds.

“She hit the middle of the hood and rolled onto the windshield and pushed it in,” Gallant said. “She flipped off the roof and then hit a pole. At that point, she was deceased.”

The license plate was torn from Gallant’s Ford F-150, but most of the damage was to the hood and windshield. He estimated the damage at between $3,000 and $4,000.

In spite of that, the impact was not enough to cause the air bags to deploy and Gallant was not crushed under the weight of the beast, as he might have been had he been driving a smaller vehicle.

The Oxford County Sheriff’s Department is investigating the wreck. Gallant said he will try to continue enjoying the wildlife around his home, but at a safer distance.

“We’re always cautious going through there,” he said. “But there are more moose out there this year than usual.”