A bull moose sauntered into Broomfield this morning, apparently in search of a new home for the winter.
Office workers in an industrial park near Wadsworth Boulevard and U.S. 36 first spotted him, about a quarter of a mile from the Sill-Terhar Ford dealership.
“One of my engineers yelled there was a moose outside,” said Carey Ryerson, a manager at Fusion Specialties Inc. “I thought he (the engineer) was on something. But there it was, right across the railroad tracks.
“He was just doing his thing, … being a moose,” Ryerson said. “He was walking along until they tranquilized him.”
Division of Wildlife officers shot the moose with a tranquilizer, which caused him to lay down. But a few moments later, the moose got back on his feet and started to wobble away. The shot him again, then loaded him in a trailer to be taken back up into the mountains.
DOW spokeswoman Jennifer Churchill said the moose was probably a yearling, weighing maybe 700 pounds.
“It’s hard to estimate their weight, so we’re cautious about over-medicating them,” Churchill said.
“We’ve been watching this moose for some time,” she said. “Last May, he wandered into St. Vrain State Park. He stayed up there for quite a while.
“A couple of days ago, we got reports he was in Erie. We went there but couldn’t find him. He’s been pretty good about lying low.
“The moose population is doing very well this year. We’ve got lots from North Park to South Park. So we’re seeing them turn up in new places.
“Around this time of year, the young males disperse pretty widely, looking for a home. They follow drainage ditches, greenbelts and hiking trails. There are so many trails now that it’s pretty easy for them to find their way down out of the mountains.”
Churchill said no one was threatened or injured by the moose. “They can be very aggressive,” she said.
Staff writer Mike McPhee can be reached at mmcphee@denverpost.com or by calling 303-954-1409.
