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Wildlife managers with the Colorado Division of Wildlife faced a unique dilemma on Tuesday, Feb. 19 in the Sandstone area of Vail. Officers were notified that a bull moose had fallen into a backyard and was unable to escape due to heavy snow, fences and a retaining wall.
The renter of the property awoke Tuesday morning to find the moose laying peacefully in his condo's 20' by 20' backyard patio area.
See photo at:
http://dnr.state.co.us/imagedb/images/3803.jpg
District wildlife managers arrived on the scene to get a view of the situation. Residents worked to clear and unfreeze a gate. Unfortunately, heavy snow made it impossible to herd the animal out of the yard. With no side yards or gates that access the front of the condos, officers were going to have to come up with a solution.
http://dnr.state.co.us/imagedb/images/3804.jpg
And a solution isn't always easy when you're dealing with a 650 to 750 pound bull moose.
http://dnr.state.co.us/imagedb/images/3810.jpg
Officers determined that the moose would need to be tranquilized.
http://dnr.state.co.us/imagedb/images/3805.jpg
..wrapped in a tarp..
http://dnr.state.co.us/imagedb/images/3806.jpg
..and carried THROUGH the condo..
http://dnr.state.co.us/imagedb/images/3807.jpg
..down the stairs and out the front door. Once there the tranquilized moose was loaded into a pickup truck..
http://dnr.state.co.us/imagedb/images/3808.jpg
..and quickly down Interstate 70 to a more remote area north of Wolcott.
Sometimes wildlife management is a mix of innovation and heavy lifting.
Because these wildlife officers are involved in an extremely important deer feeding operation in the Eagle area, they are unavailable for interviews at this time. Additionally, we are unable to provide the name of the homeowner or the address of the condo. However, we received so much interest in this story, we thought the photos would be enough to get you started.
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