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Colorado Parks and Wildlife warns hikers about aggressive moose during calving season

By HUGH JOHNSON 07/05/2022 | updated 3 years ago

Officials with Colorado Parks and Wildlife are calling for hikers and sightseers to give wildlife some extra space this time of year, when animals like moose are raising their young.

In an announcement July 1, CPW officials pointed to an incident that happened in Teller County June 30. A woman was hiking on the Crags Trail, located off Colorado 67, south of Divide, when she and her dog encountered a cow moose and its calf. The dog, who was not on a leash, was running when the moose came out of the bushes and charged after it, officials said in a release. The woman yelled at the moose and it began to charger her.

The woman fell and broke her arm attempting to escape. The moose stood over the woman before charging the dog again, officials said. She and the dog eventually made it back to the woman’s car after the moose and calf wandered away.

“This incident is a reminder of why we warn everyone to respect wildlife and give them their space,” Tim Kroening, CPW’s Area Wildlife Manager for the Pikes Peak region, said in a release. “We know Colorado residents love their dogs. But to keep them safe, we urge people not to take their dogs into wildlife habitat during fawning and calving season and never let them off-leash.

“These confrontations can happen with bears, moose, elk, deer and other wildlife and especially when dogs are involved. They view the dogs as a predator and react in defense of their young.”

Wildlife officials urged hikers to avoid the area.

Kroening warns hikers to avoid thick willow habitat in riparian areas where moose tend to graze and rest. Calves are born from the end of May to mid June.

CPW Flyer – Moose encounters
Colorado Parks and Wildlife

Contact the writer: hugh.johnson@gazette.com

A juvenile moose plays in the water near the top of Red Mountain Pass between Silverton and Ouray, Colo., Thursday, July 15, 2021.
Christian Murdock, The Gazette file
HUGH JOHNSON

Reporter

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