Columbia Memorial Health (1) Careers

This moose, media shy, leaves only a footprint behind

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HILLSDALE—The Columbia Paper received a call from an excited Emily Clark reporting that she saw a moose in the backyard of a house on White Hill Lane off Mitchell Street, the morning of Thursday, September 19.

Ms. Clark said she was housecleaning when she looked out the window and noticed the moose. She yelled outside to Chris Neumann, who was building a stone wall on the property, to let him know there was a moose out there.

Mr. Neumann said initially he could not see the large bull moose, noting he was not used to seeing such a big animal and did not have any frame of reference for it.

He said the moose’s legs looked like small trees, its body was high up amid the foliage and its antlers looked like branches.

Eager to get a photo of the animal, Mr. Neumann tried to follow it, but all he could get was a picture of a footprint. He said the length of the animal’s stride was six-and-a-half- to seven-feet.

The moose sighting took place in the town’s high elevation, which is a good argument for why ridgelines should be preserved, said Mr. Neumann, who noted his love of hunting. The biggest species travel the ridgelines because they’re safe from humans, he said. “The high peaks are natural corridors for big animals.” While moose are established in Vermont, said Mr. Neuman, they may be working their way down here.

 

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