AUGUSTA — Residents on Murray Street in Augusta got quite the surprise Saturday night when a moose came trotting through their neighborhood.

Chris Martinez received a frantic call that night from his neighbor who was out of town at the time — her house’s camera detected a motion, but little did Martinez know that it would be a moose that visited his neighbor’s home.

“I’m from California originally and this is the third time I’ve seen a live moose in Maine,” Martinez said. “I used to be an animal control officer here in Maine and never saw a live one during that time.”

The video captured by the camera shows a moose walking by the home and going up to the woman’s front door.

A moose made its way to Murray Street in Augusta Saturday before departing the city street by the time authorities arrived. Photo courtesy of Chris Martinez

The Augusta Police Department received a call about the moose at 7:51 p.m., but by the time they got to Murray Street the moose was gone.

Sargent Anthony Drouin confirmed the animal was an adult moose, and said it was originally believed that the moose was stuck in a fence in the backyard.

It’s unclear where the moose came from, but the end of Murray Street has a trailhead and nature center from which the moose might have traveled.

“We checked the area to make sure it didn’t get hit by a car, but it didn’t,” said Drouin.

According to the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife, there are an estimated 60,000-70,000 moose living in Maine.