Posted on 01/03/2015 1:28:27 PM PST by skeptoid
A moose caught in an avalanche in Hatcher Pass may have three passing snowmachiners to thank for making it into the new year.
The men dug the moose -- a young cow, they think -- out of the snow, apparently unharmed, after it was caught in an avalanche Dec. 28. One of the men, Marty Mobley, 44, said the moose probably caused the slide that swallowed it and that without the group's help, it would not have survived.
"There was just enough of its snout sticking above the snow that it could breathe," Mobley said.
Mobley said he and friends Rob Uphus, 30, and Avery Vucinich, 27 -- all of them Valley residents -- had gone snowmachining on the Willow side of Hatcher Pass, about 55 miles northeast of Anchorage, in an area known to locals as "God's Country." They rode carefully, he said, because of the constant fear of avalanches. Mobley's best friend, Aaron Arthur, was killed along with five others while snowmachining in Turnagain Pass on March 21, 1999.
They saw a small bowl covered in moose tracks. Ski tracks were also easy to spot -- something Mobley said he doesn't often see in the area.
"We figured we scared the moose off and saw his tracks go up the side and over the crest," Mobley said.
About an hour later, coming back through the same area, the trio saw an avalanche had come down in the bowl, obliterating both the moose and ski tracks. Mobley said the men were worried a skier got caught in the slide, so they took a closer look, nervous about the possibility of more avalanches.
(Excerpt) Read more at adn.com ...
Well, good for them for doing it.
I would too, but gingerly.
Helping a frightened moose has got to be about on a par with pulling a thorn out of a lion’s paw.
A moose avalanche once bit my sister!
I know a guy who found 15 elk killed in a slide one spring. He got all the ivories.
The moose doesn't fight off your help.
Shoulda left it for spring thaw. He’d have had an awesome moose-stash..
Be sure to try the veal.
What about the squirrel?
Late one night, alone on a mountain, just me in a snowcat, in a snowstorm, I was blading a big drift out of my way, all of a sudden something big flew up and nearly hit the windshield. It scared the crap out of me, a large owl. I later learned owls will find the lee side of a drift during a snowstorm and let the snow cover them for protection. Had to share, the moose story brought it back to me after many years.
BTTT .....
He iss FLYINK squirrel!
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