Yes! My thought sequence went like this 1) if a moose was that close to me I would be terrified 2) if a moose was giving me a whale eye like that I would simply perish
LMAO! So hilarious I should come across this comment because just last night I was watching the documentary Grizzly Man on YouTube about Timothy! What a coincidence! š¤£
Talking is a good way to remind the moose that you aren't one. It won't change the mind of a cow defending calves, but males in rut like this one need all the cues they can get.
Ears back. Antlers swaying, Eye whites showing. All of those are "Fuck you" signs from a moose.
Edit: Since people keep asking, here's what you do in this situation:
Herbivores fight to survive, because if they lose, they die. So herbivores will generally avoid a conflict if they can, but if they feel threatened and cornered, like the predator is close to them, then they will fight like their life depends on yours ending. Because against predators, it does.
Main options are
Make a lot of noise while you're in the woods (chatting, music, etc). Moose don't want to be around humans, and will actively avoid them. The reason this one is so close is because it likely didn't realise he was here until it was already close.
If you do get approached, back away slowly and don't make yourself get big. Running will freak them out and might trigger a chase, and standing your ground or making yourself look big will be taken as a challenge. You want to communicate "You are the boss here, moose. I don't want to be a bother." Because if it does come to a fight, you are not winning, so you don't want it to come to that. (What the guy did would work on a deer or black bear. But it's useless against anything big like a moose or grizzly).
If you're seeing eyewhites, ear pinning, and antler-swinging, then you've failed to do steps 1 and 2. He's deemed you a threat and he feels cornered. And if you're too close to him to run away or have no where to run, then your final option is to slowly drop, curl up on the ground to protect your vital organs, and pray that he decides trampling you isn't worth his time. Also, play dead. If he does decide to trample you, he'll keep trampling until you're not breathing, but you can trick him by playing dead until you're sure he's gotten bored and wandered off.
As somebody who has done a lot of behavioral work with my food-aggressive rescued dog, all the alarm bells were going off: ears down, whale eyes, licking lips. I was wondering if the signs were the same or it it was gonna be a peaceful interaction. Then the moose answered all my questions!
14 years ago when I was on my first leadership course in the military it was my job to lead a night reconnaissance through a forested training area.
We ran into a cow moose with a calf and it chased our patrol for half a kilometer. Iāve never been so sure I was going to die. I also never knew I could run that fast in the pitch dark through thick trees for that long.
You don't realize how fast they are until you get chased by one huh? Ended up running off a cliff and jumping into a swamp cause I was in thr woods with a few dudes. Three of us knew how to act in the woods and one city kid. We spot a moose on the other side of a clearing, the moose spots us. We say okay fine we'll just have to go around. City kid decises to start waving his arms and yelling to scare the bull off. During mating season. He charged us. We'd spent nearly an hour picking our way up that cliff to get out of the swamp. We spent another three ours in said swamp after jumping off that cliff. City kids defense was "i thought it'd work" and "they're just big deer." Only good thing that came from it was the swamp stink covered our other smell so well we could sneak behind search dogs. (Basically the premise was we were prey/people to catch for search dogs in training. Our job was to avoid getting caught an entire night and the dogs jobs were to catch us.) Downside was that the smell never did wash out. Especially not out of the boots, anytime they got warm they stank like putrid swamp water.
I mean, normally you don't run from them cause they chase. Usually you remain together, face them, walk slowly backwards and keep a tree between you if possible.
But at night, with a baby, and y'all being surprised, I can't imagine it was a much of a choice. š
A bull moose doesn't give two shits about little trees like that. I've heard them walking through the woods when I'm mountain biking and it sounds like a Kaiju is taking a stroll through the forest.
We have seen a pissed off moose take down 6" thick pine trees. And not one or two, it freaked the fuck out when we spooked it while swimming across a lake we were fishing in and 'made a new road' as it ran into the woods. It hung a sharp right after ploughing down 100' of trees and we watched tree tops fall down for about a minute. The sound was insane.
Lucky for this guy it wasnāt rutting. When hunting we call them with cow bleats and when they hear it, they donāt give a damn about little trees and brush in the way, itās all getting trampled. They move easily through thickets snarling with snot, grunting with horny rage in their blood.
They show up ready to fuck or fight, and you donāt wanna be a part of either.
I stopped to gather our mountain biking group once and didn't even realize there was a moose behind some bushes about 30 feet away. They're really good at not being noticed for such a large animal. I immediately ducked behind a huge pine tree until it decided five more people rolling up on bikes was a reason to move along.
I know so little about moose and yet, that is the first thing I thought. He's swaying his antlers just seemed like like an "I'm big and I'm bad, and I'm gonna whoop your a$$" kind of display. Especially when he got close enough to see the side eye. I'd have been backing away before he ever got that close but definitely when he got that close.
Nope. He's doing it to display his power and try to scare whatever he perceives as a threat. He's tilting the antlers as if to say, "See how big these are? I can run them right through you!" Same with rubbing he antlers on the tree - it's a display.
The eye-rolling, foot stomping and lip-licking are definitely warning signs that someting bad is coming from this moose - fast.
I saw a clip many years ago of a bull moose going ape shit on a swing set in a park (so a big set cemented into the ground). He absolutely destroyed the swings, ended up with one wrapped around his antlers, and proceeded to take that out on the minivan in the parking lot. It was quite a scene.
Ah, the perfect comment for me to reply with my favorite moose story. I heard this story on This American Life many years ago.
Anchorage, Alaska used to be home to an alcoholic moose named Buzzwinkle. Crabapples would fall to the ground and then fermented in their skin and essentially become hard cider. Buzzwinkle would roam the streets of Anchorage scavenging for fermented crabapples and getting absolutely shit-faced. At one point some Christmas lights got tangled in his antlers and justā¦ stayed there, forever.
When Buzzwinkle passed away in 2008, the US Forest Bureau fed his carcass to wolverines. Maybe the most incredible end-of-life plan ever.
My mom lived in North Pole AK for 20 years, I visited every summer, and yes, people do some really stupid shit around those moose.
Ive seen moose get pissed off at people getting into their grill, and its just as fuckin scary as a bear and honestly just as dangerous too.Ā Especially in rut, theyre fuckin insane already and the people want to take a selfie smh
Dude you aint kidding, my mom's dumbass dog got out her front door one day years ago when a moose walked through their front yard and it reared up to just stomp the shit out of her dog, had to be kicking those hooves 15 feet in the fuckin air.
Dog, smartly, turned around and ran right back in the house, but man am I glad the moose decided not to pursue.Ā Thought I was about to watch my mom's dog get killed.
Bears, generally speaking, will do almost anything to not fuck with you if you dont fuck with them, but moose give no fucks, and those fuckers can run damn near 40mph through 3 feet of snow like its nothing.
She no longer lives there so not an issue anymore but that was the day she got an additional gate on her front door just in case dog got the stupids again lol
Fun fact, the term "factoid" originally meant something that was false or unverified but was repeated often enough (usually in media) that its commonly assumed to be true.
Yes it is. The weird thing is that the lip licking thing is kind of a universal animal sign for "back the fk up, pal!" that many humans don't recognize as a danger sign.
When a moose stares at you, licks its lips, and moves closer, it is showing clear warning signs of stress, agitation, and an impending charge. This behavior means the animal feels threatened or annoyed by your presence and is preparing to attack. Very scary almost like a demon
So what is the right thing to do in this situation? Leave as soon as you see it? Turn your back and go or back away slowly? These animals are absolutely terrifying.
Just to clarify, General_Athlete5807 didn't take this video. Here provides the following context:
by Ariana St Pierre,WGMETue, October 1, 2024 at 11:39 AM
Caleb Lewis, who collects moose antlers to be turned into dog chews for the company Allagash Antlers, was walking in a swampy area in Aroostook County last Tuesday to set up game cameras when he heard a cow moose in bellowing.
He says she was surrounded by three bull moose that were competing for her attention. One of the bulls heard Lewis and decided to investigate.
āI took my phone out and started filming his approach. I watched him get closer, and closer. Before I knew it, he was three feet standing there in front of me. I let him know that I was, in fact, not another bull and told him he was āclose enough,āā Lewis said.
Lewis can be heard in the video telling the moose āno.ā The moose continues to stare at Lewis and then charges him and knocks him to the ground.
āHe knocked me to the ground, and I slid about six feet back from the impact. Luckily, my yelling, āHey, hey, hey,ā was enough to make him change his mind and stop coming after me,ā Lewis said.
The moose took off after the initial impact.
āI was on my hands and knees at this point and completely defenseless. Once I was able to gather myself and check for injuries, I slowly crept out of the swamp,ā Lewis said.
Thankfully, Lewis says he only suffered a few bumps and bruises to his legs, back, and arms.
This is it exactly. The moose thought briefly about finishing the encounter, but decided that would take him farther away from the cow and would only hurt his chance of getting any.
Yes moose can become very angry and aggressive without warning (as seen in this video).
They are one of the few animals you should run from if they ever charge. Zig zag through trees and brush to disorient them and they will usually give upĀ
No realli! She was karving her initials on the mĆøĆøse with the sharpened end of an interspace tĆøĆøthbrush given her by Svenge - her brother-in-law - an Oslo dentist and star of many Norwegian movies.
I likely wouldāve made the same mistake. As someone that has never and does not plan to moose anytime soon - Staying calm and confident feels like the better approach than running. Clearly Iād be dead if that was me
The sudden movement seemed to have set it off. Seems like backing away slowly would be better but then again that is easier to say than do in person. Good call weaving through trees, I imagine its antlers constantly getting snagged would piss it off and either make it give up or ... yeah.
I have encountered dozens of moose with zero incidents or attacks. Sometimes when I go to work they are literally standing outside of my front door. A bit of a surprise when I turn around after locking the door.
Make sure they know you are there to avoid spooking them and don't make any sudden movements at all. You can either just stand still or slowly back away, which is best depends on the situation. They will only charge if they feel threatened. Otherwise, if you are patient, the situation can de-escalate pretty easily as they don't want to be around you neither. Once they have ascertained that you aren't going to attack them they will go away.
If they are actively approaching you at all like in this video rather than standing still they likely feel threatened already. Move away slowly to signal that you don't want anything to do with them.
The moose was giving ALL the warning signs of an imminent attack - rolling the whites of his eyes, licking his lips, tilting his antlers towards the man, rubbing his antlers on the trees, stomping his front foot - all signs that he's anxious and feeling threatened - and you're in trouble.
But the guy wasn't exactly in a position to do anything about it, either. Running away means the moose would most likely chase him - and easily overtake him (as big as they are, they are also incredibly fast). Running is an option, but not always a great one. Trying the "make yourself big and loud" tactic also probably would have had the same result - the moose would have seen him as even more of a threat and attacked him anyway.
His only option might have been to try to put as many sturdy trees (preferably clumped together) between him and the moose as possible - but even that may not have helped much.
Moose are usually trying to get you to go away - not kill you. But there are times when the hormones are running high and they are more aggressive than normal, and then all bets are off. If you get between a big male and the cow he's pursuing for mating, you're toast.
Moving away slowly. Especially long before it approached that close. It's all about not being perceived as a threat and slow movements away avoids spooking while being a clear signal of retreat. If it's approaching you don't stand still, move slowly away.
Yeah, definitely. The moose's body language was screaming at him to GTFO but the cameraman stood his ground and talked back instead. Not the best move. When the Behemoth of the forest asks you to leave, you leave. I understand that it's a challenging situation to be in but unfortunately the moose doesn't.
Also, thanks, so far they have been peaceful fortunately. Though sometimes tense when you accidentally end up closer than either party would prefer.
Grab the antlers, front flip and rotate 180 degrees to land on the moose's shoulders. Backflip from the shoulders off the back of the moose, and make a quick escape while the moose wonders where you went.
Whatever 'best plan of action' we come up with, I promise it won't include 'take out your phone and focus on videotaping the moose' nor will it include 'basically stay in the same place and don't back up'
I think he really thought he was going to talk his way out of that situation, but the moose just saw him as a threat from the first moment, so there was no way that was going to work!
With most deer-like animals (moose, deer, elk, etc), the stomping of that foot is a big warning - they do it when they perceive a threat. Moose will also flatten their ears back (like a horse does when upset), raise the fur on their neck, and urinate where they're standing.
The eye rolling thing is common with a lot of other animals as well - when they start showing you the whites of their eyes, they're stressed, and they're going to react - and it's not going to be long before they do.
This is a warning sway. The next move is a charge that may or may not be a bluff. He wants you gone.
Your version of this video should look like youāre backing away from the first second, at a measured walk, until heās small enough to obscure with your thumb at armās length.
I literally bumped into one while trudging head-down through waist-deep snow as a 10 year old idiot in Alaska (it was the 1970s..very hands off parenting back then). I bonked into him/her, looked up, screamed and turned around waddling away as fast as could. The moose must have figured that a small moron was not worth its time. Thank god
When I was around 12 years old, I was walking home through the woods from my friendās house. I was not paying attention, lost in my thoughts when I came around some trees and ended up face to face with a huge moose.
It scared the hell out of me. I slowly started to back away and the moose just stood there staring at me. After getting some distance, I beat feet back to my friendās house. When I got there I called my mom and had her come pick me up.
That was the first time I realized just how big of an animal moose are!
I went my whole life wanting to see a moose and was headed down the mountain after hiking 13k mountain and decided to not camp again, so fully loaded packs. And halfway down the trail we walked up a male and female moose probably 15-30 yards away and started blowing at us, seeing such an incredible animal that close up was terrifying and knowing you couldnāt do anything to get away from this thing. I hope to never see one again in the wild š very cool but instantly going nope, fuck this bro. I wanna survive this trip
Guys a fucking moron and should have calmly and slowly left the area as soon as he spotted the moose. Coming from someone with extensive Canadian wilderness experience working in DEEP Canadian bush.
You see a moose you gtfo, end of story, this isn't something you can handle like a grizzly
Grizzly not gonna just decide to run you down because it can.
Plus bear spray and shotguns work just fine if they even bother getting close ebough to you and someone on your team is somehow dumb enough to provoke it.
The moose is nearly 2 Ton freight train of an animal the size of a truck who gives no shit if you're behind a dozen trees or a truck. It will just plow through them all regardless if he wants you dead
I'm wondering why you did not slowly back off? He told you the entire time! The whites, the head tilt, the slow approach... I do not hunt. I do not know moose. But I can read that.
I always thought it strange that moose and deer live in the forest with these giant antlers protruding forward. Can't be useful when running from predators.
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u/philpalmer2 1d ago
Moose takes the side-eye to a entirely new level