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Moose on the loose the talk of Ottertail
Published Friday, September 26, 2008
Alex Bailey was getting ready for school last Thursday morning when his 12-year-old sister came to his room with news: A moose was in their yard.
“At first I didn’t believe her,” said Bailey, 18, “but then I went and looked and there it was.”
The moose was about 30 yards from the family’s home on Pelican Bay near Ottertail, standing along the edge of the water. As Bailey’s mother contacted Ottertail alderman Don Patrick, the moose went into the lake and around a bend into the rushes. By the time Patrick arrived, the animal was out of sight.
Yet reports of the moose continued throughout the day. After the sighting at the Bailey home around 7 a.m., the moose showed up near the sheriff’s Ottertail Operations Center at County Highway 55 and State Highway 108.
Jeff Spanswick, another Ottertail councilman, was driving east on Highway 108 with a friend when he saw the moose at about 10:30 a.m. Initially, the animal didn’t look real.
“We said, ‘Somebody’s playing a joke on the sheriff’s department with a big moose cutout,’” Spanswick said.
When they realized they were looking at the real thing, they pulled into the Operations Center parking lot. Several other vehicles also stopped to look at the moose — an animal Spanswick estimated at 1,500 pounds.
Moose sightings continued late morning at Thumper Pond Golf Course and Resort. The animal appeared on the 14th tee box, where it was spotted by a maintenance worker, said Luke Roberts, a staffer in the pro shop.
“I think it was just walking its way through,” Roberts said.
Thursday’s moose visit was just that — a passing-through, according to Don Schultz, wildlife manager for the Department of Natural Resources in Fergus Falls.
“They tend to wander this time of year, especially the young bulls,” Schultz said. “We don’t have an established (population) in the Ottertail area, so it was just passing through.”
Spanswick said he heard the moose eventually made its way to Rush Lake that afternoon, going for a swim before continuing on its journey.
Comments
The Daily Journal is happy to host community conversations about news and life in Fergus Falls and the surrounding area. As hosts, we expect guests will show respect for each other. That means we don't threaten or defame each other, and we keep conversations free of personal attacks. Witty is great. Abusive is not. If you think a post violates these standards, don't escalate the situation. Instead, flag the comment to alert us. We'll take action if necessary. It's not hard. This should be a place where people want to read and contribute -- a place for spirited exchanges of opinion. So those who persist with racist, defamatory or abusive postings risk losing the privilege to post at all.Posted by theweasel (anonymous) on September 26, 2008 at 3:03 p.m.
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Posted by sassica (anonymous) on October 1, 2008 at 11 a.m. (Suggest removal)
There were sightings of a moose by the Underwood area about a week ago as well! Maybe the same moose!
Posted by ginger_ale1 (anonymous) on October 4, 2008 at 8:39 a.m.
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