TOWNSHIP 15 RANGE 6, Maine — A Fort Kent woman was killed Monday afternoon in a fatal crash with a moose.
Sgt. Forrest Dudley of the Aroostook County Sheriff’s Department said Monday evening that the crash that killed Cheryl Albert, 34, took place just before 1:30 p.m. on Route 11.
Dudley said that Ronnie Pelletier, 41, of Allagash was operating a 1982 Chevrolet Camaro north in an area known as Soucy Hill. Albert was in the front passenger’s seat.
A bull moose entered the roadway and Pelletier was unable to avoid striking the moose. The moose caved in the front windshield of the vehicle.
Albert was pronounced dead at the scene by medical personnel from ASI Ambulance Services of Fort Kent.
Pelletier received only minor injuries, and was treated and released at the scene.
The Camaro is considered a total loss.
The accident is being investigated by Sheriff’s Deputy Mitchell Wheeler.
The Eagle Lake Fire Department also responded and assisted with the accident.
Very sad. So sorry for the family and loved ones left behind.
Anyone that has spent any time up north has had close calls. This is another reason we need to harvest at least 10% of the population every year.
Tragic.
Since Maines moose population is est at over 70,000, we are not close to 10% harvest. Lee Kanter is against raising the number of permits issued. I don’t care if one tourist ever sees a moose, it’s not worth it.
My condolences to her family and those who knew her.
This is terrible. I know Soucy Hill very well. I grew up in this area. You have to muster enough power (down shift) to get up the steep hill and then have to watch out for deer and moose on the way. I go on ‘moose patrol’ once I hit Route 11. Several family members and friends have met their fate on this road. So sorry for the loss!
condolences to family and friends…these are horrible accidents…
R.I.P .Feel bad for all the loved ones left behind. I know Rt.11 as Moose Alley.
Life will never be the same without you, you and your beautiful smile will be missed every day.
sincere condolences to the families involved……god be with you
Why in hell do we need 70,000 moose running around. Time to issue a lot more permits. People die every year with moose collisions. I think the moose lovers needs to pool some money for fencing for our roadways.
The kids live in Fort Kent.
If I lived up there I would consider having two steel bars installed going up across my windshield.
Has anyone thought of doing this?
The humble Farmer
You have to tie them to something. You can’t just fishmouth DOM tubing and weld it to the a-pillars. You’d need down bars through your dash and then that would have to tie to something else as it would just bend down on impact. By the time you were done, you’d have a 6 point roll cage. Not very convenient and I cannot think of too many people that want to put a cage in their daily driver. Especially if it’s a new car.
Condolences to the family. The moose are all over the place right now, especially the big Bulls. The other morning a big Bull moose was nonchalantly walking right in front of my house. I went outside to take a few pictures and he actually stopped and posed for me. I stayed at least 150 feet away from him in case he decided to charge.
I was just up there last week and saw a big bull moose that will soon reside in my freezer, and i have to agree with those calling for an increase in the number of moose hunting permits. I understand that tourists and state officials like to have lots of moose around for their viewing enjoyment, but unfortunately that also means the risk to local citizens who drive these roads regularly is unacceptably high. Time to reevaluate our priorities. RIP
Sometimes it doesn’t matter how fast you are going, a giant moose can walk in front of the car while you drive at any speed and be a fatal encounter. I just finished college in Fort Kent and remember how nerve wracked I was every time I would drive back and forth to visit home. There really is no way to protect yourself on 11…the treeline is super close to the road, and there are not NEARLY enough moose warning signs in dangerous places, like to top of steep hills and around corners, or having a fence along the treeline in such dangerous spots (I have seen these before in moose country and they really make a difference in the number of collisions). And harvesting moose is a necessity…there really are no natural predators of moose in Maine that take out enough of them to control the population. Unlike other places with moose, we don’t have wolves, cougars, and other large predators to control the population in addition to hunting. There are plenty of eager people that want to get a permit…it’s important to control the population because the more there are, the greater chance they are going to wander into human domain. I don’t care if tourists want to see a moose. If you want to see a moose, you have to go looking in the areas they live. Don’t just expect to see them on the side of the road. These are wild animals in the forest, it’s not like you can just drive by like in a zoo and see them. There are Maine guides that take people to look for moose. I also highly doubt that seeing a moose is the only reason people come to Maine. Seriously, I don’t think decreasing the population is going to affect tourism. People go to Bar Harbor by the hundreds and there are no moose there basically. It’s a terrible thing that happened to these people in Fort Kent, and should be an indication that something needs to be done about population control, because what we are doing is not enough. No matter how safely you drive, there are simply too many moose and not enough removed by man or natural predators. Moose collisions are becoming worse and worse, with more happening than I have ever seen. This is a risk that can be greatly reduced, and something like this can avoid happening again.
we had a moose siting right here in bangor on ohio street a few weeks ago