Moose trapped in Ottawa backyard tranquillized, taken back to woods

[awndray]

A female moose calf is back in the wilderness after it got itself stuck in a suburban Ottawa backyard on Tuesday morning.

The moose sightings began at about 2 a.m. in the neighbourhood of Orléans. Eventually the young moose made its way into the backyard of a home near Lunenberg Crescent and Champneuf Drive.

"It's unbelievable, how a moose would get there. ... We see deer all the time, but not moose," neighbour Andre Savoie told CBC News.

"It's a moose looking for Santa. Merry Christmas," said Bruce Brunelle, another neighbour.

"It came a little too early, but that's OK," added David Poirier.

The City of Ottawa assessed the situation and determined the moose wasn't posing a threat to public safety. They then called the National Capital Commission's conservation office to tranquillize and relocate the moose.

It took a large team of police and NCC officers to lift the tranquillized moose onto a tow truck.

"[It was] a happy ending. It actually worked out perfectly. It couldn't have been better. And moose are very tricky, a lot trickier than deer," said Christine Hartig, who works for the city's emergency and protective services department.

"We're very happy. I'm sure the homeowner is, too."

NCC conservation officer Pierre-Luc Denis said the moose was expected to wake up in about two to three hours, "like nothing happened."

Shortly after 12:30 p.m., the NCC tweeted a photo of the moose being returned to the wild.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa...tawa-1.3365940

[MikePal]

Nice to know that killing it wasn't required....

[awndray]

Yes, it's a better ending than the elk story from a couple of years ago.

[trimmer21]

Taking a close look at the release photo,there isn't an OMNRF uniform in sight. H-m-m-m-m..........

[terrym]

Taking a close look at the release photo,there isn't an OMNRF uniform in sight. H-m-m-m-m..........

They're on the way, really.

[bushman]

Article says a calf?? Is it just me or does anyone else think it's a cow. The old snout looks pretty long for a calf.

[trimmer21]

Article says a calf?? Is it just me or does anyone else think it's a cow. The old snout looks pretty long for a calf.

It's a yearling calf. It would still take a Cow tag at our camp.

[JMatthews]

Nice that they were able to move the Moose.

[bushman]

It's a yearling calf. It would still take a Cow tag at our camp.

Areyou saying its a year and a half old then trimmer?Not 6 or 7 months old. Therefore a cow tag would be needed?

[trimmer21]

Areyou saying its a year and a half old then trimmer?Not 6 or 7 months old. Therefore a cow tag would be needed?

It looks that way to me from the photo. I'm going by length of the legs,color,size of it's ears and nose shape. If all I had was a calf tag,I wouldn't be taking a chance on this one.