Residents of Smithers, BC, are used to wildlife in their town, but it’s not every day that a moose picks a fight.
In a viral video taken on King St., the moose watches the resident pass by, then sneaks up behind her and gives her a kick. The video cuts off abruptly, but CBC has confirmed that the woman was fine after the incident.
Laryne Gamble, who posted the video online, says she just meant to record the moose to show her sister-in-law, but instead captured the rare event.
Some comments on her YouTube channel accuse Gamble of purposely failing to warn the poor pedestrian, but she defended herself, saying, “If I knew what was going to happen I would have been a lot more quick on my feet.”
Moose are generally shy creatures, but at certain times of year, such as rutting season or when a cow is protecting her young, they can show signs of aggression. In this case, the moose was determined to be pregnant, which could explain this unusual behaviour. Flint Knibbs, a local conservation officer, told the CBC, “You can see in the video that it’s between a house and a vehicle, and our take on it is that the moose felt it needed to get out of there. It was being cornered, and the easiest way out happened to be over top of this individual.”
Knibbs has begun to monitor the moose’s activities, but also adds that Smithers is a town where black bears are a common roadside sight, and local wildlife wandering around is a “fact of life.”
Humans have little to fear from these gentle giants, but Knibbs goes on to point out some basic caution for high-density wildlife areas: “The best thing people can do is to be aware of their surroundings.”
