A young moose trapped in a horse paddock followed a B.C. woman to freedom after other rescue attempts failed.
Shauna McAllister had just poured her morning coffee on Oct. 27 at her ranch north of Clinton, B.C., located about 230 kilometres northeast of Vancouver, when she noticed a set of furry ears that weren’t like the others.
“I thought, that’s not my big horse. What is that?”
She put on her slippers and housecoat and found a large, juvenile moose standing on her fenced-in property.
“I think his hump was at least six feet tall. And he had these big, long floppy ears like a donkey and the typical moose goatee … and a big rounded snout.”
McAllister knows how dangerous animals — particularly moose — can be, having worked with wildlife and large animals throughout her life as a zoo evaluator and vet assistant.
She approached the moose cautiously, checking for signs of injury or distress.
McAllister was not sure how the animal got in and said he seemed healthy, calm, and was content to stay put.
She suspects the moose was roughly a year-and-a-half old, an age when moose leave their mothers and venture off on their own.
She worried the young moose would eventually try to escape and jump over a fence onto the highway that runs along her property.
Vehicle collisions with moose are not uncommon in the region, and can be fatal.
McAllister made several attempts to shoo the moose toward her open gate, but he was unfazed.
She called the B.C. Conservation Officer Service for help and was told officers do not typically conduct animal removals, but they would see what could be done.
While she waited, McAllister and her horses watched as the young moose had a nap.
“It was absolutely the most magical experience that I can recall having, possibly, in my life,” she said.
Eventually, RCMP and B.C. Conservation Officer Service vehicles arrived.
She presented the Mountie and conservation officer a Canadian flag mounted to a two-metre metal pole, thinking it could be used either in self-defence or as a coaxing tool — depending on how the situation unfolded.
“It’s not every day that you are called to a stuck moose,” said Const. Taylor Sippel with the RCMP’s provincial support team.
Sippel and the conservation officer tried to use their air rifles to startle the moose, but he wouldn’t budge.
After an hour, McAllister checked on the officers and the moose.
“I peeked out through the trees.”
She said the Mountie was smiling and talking to the moose, while the conservation officer was conducting an assessment.
They said the moose seemed healthy, but — as she had learned — was not interested in leaving.
McAllister said she has developed an instinct over a lifetime of managing large, stubborn horses.
OK baby, it’s time to follow Auntie.– Shauna McAllister
“I just marched right up to [the moose], right two inches from his nose, and I said, ‘OK baby, it’s time to follow Auntie. Let’s go. Come follow right now.’”
And he did.
She led the moose and officers — one still wielding the Canadian flag — across her property, through the open gate and onto the road.
The officers then used the Canadian flag to coax the moose into a Crown forest.
“We’re glad that we were able to let this moose loose,” Sippel said.
Clinton RCMP and the B.C. Conservation Officer Service would like to remind the public to keep a safe distance from wildlife and to report animals in distress.
