LEWISTON – Donna McClelland has been up and down the rural Maine highways, yet she never once saw a moose. As it turns out, all she needed to do was come to downtown Lewiston.

“Awesome,” McClelland said at about 8 p.m. Thursday, moments after a moose ran by her near the corner of Ash and Howard streets. “That was so cool.”

The beast was first spotted on the quad at Bates College just as preparations were under way for Sunday’s commencement.

The moose left campus after a few minutes and was next spotted heading down Bardwell Street.

A few days late for the Bates College pub crawl, the animal was said to be headed directly toward the Blue Goose on Sabattus Street.

Instead, the moose switched course.

While a handful of police and Bates security officers trolled the side streets in search of the animal, the moose was spotted running straight down Bradley Street.

“It’s about the size of a horse,” said Sazan Hitaj, who spotted the animal lumbering by.

For 20 minutes, the moose ran an erratic course between Sabattus and Ash streets. Police officers and a news photographer tried to follow, but the fleet-footed animal disappeared between apartment houses just ahead of them.

By 8:15 p.m., groups of people gathered on different street corners, pointing to areas where the moose was last seen. Some had come out after hearing that a critter was running amok in the area. Others happened upon the moose while they were out on other business and they just stood and stared in its wake.

“I’ve been here seven years and I’ve never seen a moose,” said McClelland, who moved to Maine from Lynn, Mass. “It looked like a baby.”

On a front porch at Ash and Howard streets, a trio of men sat around a grill where burgers were cooking. They had not seen the moose, though it had passed just a couple buildings away.

“We have plenty of food here if it wants to stop by,” one of the men said.

The moose passed up the free food and went in another direction. By 8:30 p.m., a pair of women near the end of Pine Street reported the animal had trotted up Webster Street.

The moose eventually made its way behind the high school and down toward Lisbon Street where it was spotted near Wendy’s.

Animal Control Officer Wendell Strout said late Thursday that the moose was last seen headed toward the wooded area along River Road.

“He should be fine out there,” Strout said.

The moose, he said, was a yearling.