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Person holding bear spray next to a moose
Most people don’t list moose that high on the list of wild animals they’re worried about encountering, but they can pose more of a threat than you might think. That was the case with one that recently wandered into a backyard in Montana, and one woman scrambled for the can of bear spray she had to bust out after it started going after her dogs.
It can be hard to appreciate just how massive moose are unless you’ve come across one in person.
The biggest adults can stand up to seven feet tall at the shoulder and tip the scales at more than 1,600 pounds, and there are plenty of anecdotes concerning people who’ve wrecked their car after running into one only to see the animal trot away like nothing happened.
For the most part, you don’t have to be overly concerned about crossing paths with a moose, as they aren’t particular aggresive towards humans. However, the same can’t be said with dogs, which typically trigger the same response in their brains and the wolves that hunt them regardless of the size or breed.
That was seemingly the case with an incident that recently unfolded in a neighborhood in Montana that forced one woman to spring into action.
A woman in Montana whipped out a can of bear spray to protect her dogs from a moose that charged at them
Moose can also get aggressive during mating season (which typically stretches from the end of August to the start of October), and they can also be overly protective when accompanied by their young.
You’ve got a recipe for trouble when dogs get thrown into the mix, and all three of those factors seemingly converged in Big Sky, Montana on Thursday, August 27th.
NBC Montana shared footage that was captured in the yard of Shelly Thorburn, who attempted to herd her three dogs inside after a couple of moose (which appeared to be a cow and a calf) made their way toward the property.
The larger moose repeatedly charged at a small dog named Annie, a 14-year-old who Thorburn said is “deaf and visually impaired” while speaking with CNN, but she was able to chase off the moose after deploying multiple bursts of bear spray.
Thankfully, none of the dogs were harmed.