Alaska: Moose stomps pet poodle

Kenai Alaska Clarion ^ | 6-20-2003 | MARCUS K. GARNER

[Trailer Trash]

Web posted Thursday, June 19, 2003

Moose stomps pet poodle

By MARCUS K. GARNER
Peninsula Clarion

Tuesday morning, Sally Youngberg's 13-year-old miniature poodle, Peaches, was killed in Youngberg's back yard by a moose cow.

"I let her out ... and she was chasing a robin," Youngberg said of Peaches. "A mother moose saw her and ran across (my) yard. She reared up and came down on her with front hooves three times."

Peaches died instantly.

Youngberg said the cow was accompanied by a very young calf, but she said her dog wasn't running in the direction of the moose.

"She was going away from the moose," she said of her dog. "I'm not sure if the moose was startled, because she came from a full charge from around the side of my house."

Youngberg lives in Soldotna on Katmai Avenue, just behind Central Peninsula General Hospital. Her back yard is fenced in on three sides, although she said she has seen the moose step over fences. Youngberg said there is a wooded area near the hospital where the moose have ranged for several years.

She said she was concerned because there were children living in the neighborhood and hospital patients who, because of physical conditions, might not be able to avoid a run-in.

"We did call animal control," Youngberg said. "They said they would just come and shoot it if it happened again."

Alaska Fish and Game area biologist Jeff Selinger said his office generally handles calls like this based on the situation.

"If we see a moose and the moose acts in a manner that is defending her calf and moving on, then we're going to leave her alone," he said. "If it is acting overly aggressive, we may have to dispatch the animal."

Youngberg said she didn't understand why the moose could not be anesthetized and removed from the area, the way nuisance bears are relocated.

"It leaves an awful option," she said.

Fish and Game wildlife technician Larry Lewis suggested free-ranging dogs, those pets or former pets allowed to roam untethered, may have indirectly contributed to the attack.

"It's purely speculation, but this animal may have been harassed by free-ranging animals," he said. "And when it got into that yard, it's a good possibility that she felt that dog was a threat."

A cow's nature is to defend itself and its offspring and if the animal felt threatened, it would respond, he said.

Lewis said pet owners should keep their dogs on a leash when they walk them and use eight-foot fencing to protect their pets from moose and other animals that may roam through town.

As far as moving the moose, Lewis and Selinger said that is not practical for a number of reasons.

"We don't move moose as a general rule," Selinger said. "You need special equipment to lift them, crate them and hoist them up onto a flatbed truck to move them. It's cost prohibitive and we just don't have the equipment at our disposal."

Lewis said such action also could be harmful to moose and moose calves.

"Moving the moose is really not an option. You move this moose and another one will take its place," Lewis said. "It's stressful to the animal and its hard on the calf. That calf is nursing and the animal has narcotics in her system.

"And we don't have the budget to move the animal."

Lewis also suggested neighbors communicate with other neighbors, particularly if there are children in the area who could unwittingly put themselves in danger of an encounter with a moose, bear, wolf or other potentially harmful Alaska wildlife.

"We live in coastal Alaska, and with that you accept a certain amount of responsibility to behave around these animals," Lewis said. "It's easier for us to modify our behavior than it is to modify the animals' behavior."

[csvset]

THE POODLE BITES!
(Come on, Frenchie)
THE POODLE CHEWS IT!
(Snap it!)
THE POODLE BITES!
(Come on, Frenchie)
THE POODLE CHEWS IT!
(Snap it!)

[AntiGuv]

A Møøse once bit my sister ...

[MNlurker]

That comment made my day as I really needed that laugh!!!!!

LMAO

[weegee]

A moose once bit my sister...

Bite back: Caption time! (although I think the picture does itself justice already)

[MD_Willington_1976]

Headline: Alaskan woman baits "Swamp Donkey" out of season..

[j.havenfarm]

I like cheese.

[MalcolmS]

will someone please clue me in on the moose & cheese thing?

You have to ask the sister but she's in the shower right now

As best as I can determine, there was a discussion regarding cheese, leading to a mention of a mouse.

A hapless spelling-challenged poster then wrote: "A mouse bit my sister once"...only it came out "A moose bit my sister once". Naturally, like sharks in a FReeding FRenzy, the assembled FReeper hoards decended unmercifully upon the hapless poster, and FReeper history was made.

Naturally, that reminds me of a joke.

A Scottsman visited Northern Canada, where the Moose are plentiful. His host took him for hike, emphasising how big the lakes were, how big the vast country was, how big the trees were and how big the wildlife grew. At one point, he whispered, "look, a moose". The Scottish visitor looked in the indicated direction, peering on the forest floor. "Not down there, you ninny!" said his host, pointing to a clearing in the bush. The Scot took one look at the moose, screamed and ran back to their cabin.

When the breathless guide caught up with him, he taunted his guest. "I can't believe you're afraid of a moose." The Scot replied, "I'm not afraid of that beast, but if that's the size of the moose, I'm terrified to imagine how big the cat must be." (/rimshot)

[hattend]

I kept expecting to see "Ms Youngberg is considering a lawsuit against the moose, the moose calf, God for making the moose, Alaska Fish and Game for tracking the moose to her yard and not doing anything about it, the local Fred Meyer for selling the plants that attracted the moose to her yard, the state of Alaska for being in the moose habitat, and the local wolf population for not getting momma moose when they had a chance."

Her lawyer, Johnnie Cochran, said the pet kill is vicious, malicious, and for me, monetarily delicious.

[nothingnew]

Peaches was killed in Youngberg's back yard by a moose cow.

For the "older" crowd at FR:

Soupy Sales was devastated by the news:

"I'm crushed. No more romantic outings at the baseball games, where I kissed her on the strikes and she kissed me on the balls......"

FMCDH

[Chewbacca]

So the moose must have been using Bush's strategery of preemtive self defense and decided to kill the dog before it became a threat to the calf.

Stupid Frenchy dogs.

[vin-one]

It's a good thing that Peaches, was not named Cheeses.....