Bull Moose in Laramie

A two-year-old bull moose was wandering the west side of Laramie yesterday. Game and Fish officials were soon on hand near the intersection of Jefferson and Pierce Streets, where they tranquilized the moose in order to relocate it.

According to Robin Koepple, of Wyoming Game and Fish, the moose fell onto a barbed wire fence when it was “darted.” Fortunately, a veterinarian was on hand to tend to the animal. It had some very minor scratches from the barbed wire, so the veterinarian treated them with an antibacterial medicine and the moose was loaded into a horse trailer to be taken to the Sierra Madres.

“The safest thing for the moose and for everybody involved is to dart it; so we tranquilize it,” said Koepple. “When we dart them, once they’re in a trailer where they can’t hurt themselves or anybody else, they’re given an antidote that reverses the effects of the tranquilizer. Then the moose wakes up and we haul him up into the woods.”

Kepple says it is not unusual for moose to make their way into town, particularly during this time of year. “The young bulls are out looking for territory to establish, trying to get away from the larger bull moose that would fight with them. They follow the streams and the waterways down into town, then they realize that they’re someplace they don’t want to be,” said Koepple.  “They get panicked and scared and don’t know what to do. So people call us to let us know, and we get out there.”