FALMOUTH, Maine — An employee of The Maine Wire, a conservative news website, saw an unusual sight Tuesday morning: A moose running alongside his car while he drove down the Falmouth Spur.
“It’s unusual to see a moose this close to the shore,” comments the videographer, “but perhaps he was heading north to enjoy some Fourth of July festivities in the deep woods with his family.”
The moose paced the car for several seconds before jumping the guardrail, avoiding the oncoming traffic and disappearing into the woods.
looks like the southbound end of a northbound moose to me
Good way to end up with a moose hood ornament. Trying to keep pace with them is a risky thing, they decide to turn and go in a direction that makes little or no sense and this video is a perfect example. The moose could have turned right and never crossed the path of a vehicle. This is what they do.
Dumbest critter out there !! when you see one in or near the road laying on the horn usually gets them out of the way quicker…
When I was at Loring for land speed time trials, I saw one walk out on the runway and they couldn’t get it to budge for 20 minutes, even though they drove a fire truck up to it and laid on the horn and sirens. The moose ignored them and finally wandered off on its own.
They are fascinating to watch and probably more intelligent than we give them credit for.
Also, they taste good.
Running alongside? Right… Looks like he was chasing it to me
funny how people think moose are dumb. they are actually somewhat intelligent. and yeah this guy was definetly chasing this moose.
I’d say the moose was much smarter than the driver.
And he was going how fast while getting his phone out and set to video? A little distracted maybe?
Not very fast… he was going the same speed as the moose, and moose do not run that fast.
So by your reasoning, it was running the moose to death as the moose could not run any faster.
Nice reach yet again, use your brain and stop being a troll.
Name calling again? You are very predictable.
Two errors in this story. First, didn’t name the “videographer.” Second, called The Maine Wire a “news” site.
Did you know that chasing or frightning a wild animal is against the law? Should of stopped and let it walk off on it’s own.
Glad the moose didn’t get hit after it jumped the median.
Moose can actually die of exhaustion after being chased like that. There are many documented cases of it happening. It is harassment of wildlife.
great move by a “conservation” guy. Dah, should I slow down and not push it?
He was trotting along at a pretty good pace. Maybe he was headed to the Bangor Raceway.
Once, on a very short drive to get soda at the gas station when I was living in NH, a deer did the same thing. It was quite a bit different than this. I wasn’t even on the gas, had my foot over the brake for when I knew he would jump across the road. It was neat and the deer didn’t seem threatened by my little Honda at all. :)
I also didn’t bust out my camera-phone because it seemed a bit daft..
Proper moose etiquette in this situation is to give the moose the right of way, slow the speed of your vehicle and give the animal a chance to make a safe escape. There is no need of having the moose die of exhaustion by chasing it down a highway or a dirt road.
Clearly this moose was from away! Had it actually been a Falmouth native there would have been a 61% sticker on its tail end to protest Maine’s return to fiscally sensible policies.
Once a young buck came running across a field. I stopped and he crossed to the other side. As I started up again on this country road, the buck came hauling alongside of my truck and I stopped again. It crossed back to the other side. I waited a few seconds and started up again and damn if he didn’t come bounding towards me again. The third time after I stopped he bounded across the road and kept going across the field. Sometimes an animal, like that deer and this moose, is determined to run where they want to run. That moose could have gone right back into the woods instead of continuing down the highway. But for some reason, that moose was going to go down that highway until he got it in his mind to cross. Once on 201 during a light morning rain, one was kind of trotting along the side of the road. Of course, I stopped to watch it. It kept going right down that road not looking left or right, just determined to avoid the obstacles of the woods and keep moving down the road. Then it stopped and ambled across and bounced into the woods. Go figure. I don’t believe the driver was menacing this moose—the moose could have ended it by heading for the woods.
Aside from the stubbornness of a moose, the videographer put other drivers at risk by pursuing the moose. He should have backed off.
Stop reaching, he didn’t pursue anything. He is traveling at less then 5mph, with his 4 way emergency lights going (If you can hear, and see, and aren’t completely stupid you would know this by watching the video) This moose is in no danger and the driver is actually doing more good by staying at a safe distance with his 4 ways on. Had he stopped and let it run, someone would have simply flown by him and probably hit it. Use your brain and stop trying to make mountains out of mole hills.
Obviously you are incapable of stating your position without resorting to name calling and insults, which I consider a sign of weakness. If you want to be taken seriously, you should try to be more civilized in your comments.
I’m fully capable of stating my opinion without name calling, as I just did in the comment that you replied to, if you were insulted by it, you’re probably one of the stupid people I mentioned. Which going off your obviously uneducated comments. comes out looking pretty true.
Pretty stupid move. By keeping up speed this person encouraged the moose to run faster which is illegal in Maine. Not only did this person break the law, they foolishly put other drivers at risk nearly causing a car/moose collision which is clear in the video. Some good advice for everyone is to back off when this happens and let the animal leave the road on it’s own.
wonderful video, I would say the reason the videographer did not want his/her name listed in the BDN article,,,, that would probably warrant a visit from the police, that has to be “distracted” driving
Yes. Stopping your car in the middle of a busy Interstate just for the sake of a moose is really smart. Give me a break. Should have maintained a safe legal speed and let nature take it’s course, even if that means the moose became the main course.
You’re wrong. To have continued in pursuit of the moose could have resulted in the moose running, as it did, across the intersection and into oncoming traffic. It is pure luck that this incident did not have take a tragic human toll.
dumb driver
Good to see the return of the Bull Moose Party!