Thread: Be aware of Moose on the roads

Originally Posted by DZEC

Several years ago an officer with the Newfoundland Constabulary (provincial police) was a spokesman on television advising drivers to be careful at dusk and dawn since moose-involved collisions were occurring frequently. The next day he hit one and his police vehicle was a write off.

I have driven frequently across northern Ontario and avoid those times just because of the possibility of running into wildlife - literally and figuratively. I was once told that if you hit a beast in the north, you have to call two tow trucks. The first one claims the meat, the second tows your car.

Having lived in St John's for five years, I can well understand the need for RNC awareness campaigns! Moose were introduced to the island back in (I think) the 1920s. The environment is perfect for them, and with no natural predators their numbers have gone through the roof. Add in dense fog - particularly on the isthmus connecting the Avalon peninsula - and it can be a deadly combination.

We get Moose around these parts too. Signs on the highway to give warnings. Ive never hit one but have had a couple close calls. The deer are everywhere. I bet i see two that were hit every week and 3 or 4 standing in the road or a regular basis.

It just comes with living in the rockies.

Originally Posted by Cangooner

Having lived in St John's for five years, I can well understand the need for RNC awareness campaigns! Moose were introduced to the island back in (I think) the 1920s. The environment is perfect for them, and with no natural predators their numbers have gone through the roof. Add in dense fog - particularly on the isthmus connecting the Avalon peninsula - and it can be a deadly combination.

We have made a few trips to the Rock and I have not seen a higher concentration of Moose anywhere in Canada than there. It is bad enough in NWO but the Rock is ridiculously lousy with Moose.

I have seen a conventional cab tractor with trailer on the side of the road with flashers on and the entire hood upside down some distance away. Slightly farther still was where the Moose piled up. I am certain that had the collision involved a car the car would be a right off and likely a fatality or two for the cars occupants. Seen too many cars with the front end totaled, windshield and roof caved in to the passenger compartment to take hitting a Moose lightly. You don't do very well with a Moose carcass on top of you.

Bob

Originally Posted by Gasman

We get Moose around these parts too. Signs on the highway to give warnings. Ive never hit one but have had a couple close calls. The deer are everywhere. I bet i see two that were hit every week and 3 or 4 standing in the road or a regular basis.

It just comes with living in the rockies.

The closest I ever came was actually in Manitoba, driving back to Winnipeg after a great day trip to a park in the east of the province. It was just a spot up ahead that was a slightly darker shade of grey then the rest of the grey until it was just meters in front of the car. After swerving hard and managing to keep us out of the ditch I'm certain I could have reached out the window and smacked it on the arse on my way by. That was definitely as close as I ever want to come to hitting one.

Funny part was my girlfriend, who had been asleep at the time, being really pissed at me for waking her up. She got as far as "You assho..." when she saw my buddy's face drained with his eyes bugging and jaw wide open, grabbing on to the dash for dear life.

There has been a spate in recent years of Newofundlanders hitting a moose, surviving in an essentially wrecked car, driving to their destination in complete shock, arriving covered in moose guts and blood and with absolutely no recollection of what happened. Very weird.

I hit mine back in '87. I was driving a Mercury Grand Marquis. I pretty much drove the hood under her (her legs were at the rear of the front wheel well before they made contact). Whole front of the roof was tin canned on me. The worse part was she must have just eaten...her belly was full and the windshield cut her pretty much disemboweling her. I was digging SH$& out of my ears and nose for days! The whole ER smelled like a sewer!

You were lucky to be driving a big car by today's standards. Glad you survived the incident.

Bob

OK, maybe a "spate" was overstating things a bit, but here are a couple of "Moose? what moose?" stories. I just love the quotes in the first one.

"I said, 'My Lord skipper, what happened to you?' … he said, 'I don't know.'"

"He said, 'Boy, you got to go to hospital.' I said, 'No, I'm going home.' 'Oh no,' he said, 'You're going to the hospital. You're to pieces in the face.'"

Man, I miss living in that wonderful place. If you can get it where you live, the audio is well worth a listen.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/newfo...r-it-1.3126446

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/newfo...sion-1.1215223

Have you noticed how the various governments add some attitude to the roadside warning signs associated with animals cars might encounter? In some provinces, the deer look like Bambi while the moose look incredibly p***ed off.