Folks in Red Lodge, Montana gathered around the skate park on Wednesday morning after they noticed wildlife crews and first responders. The emergency lights nearby had them thinking someone had hurt themselves.
Then they noticed the huge bull moose standing in the skate park’s concrete bowl and realized what all the small town excitement was about. The moose had become stuck and needed some assistance.
Christian and Laura Stone had stopped by to see what was causing the commotion after noticing the emergency light while taking their kids to school. While seeing wildlife in town is common, they didn’t expect to see a trapped moose.
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“I was wondering what was going on. Oftentimes it’s somebody getting hurt over here but not typically a moose,” Laura Stone told local outlet KTVQ.
The authorities attempted and failed to help the moose gain traction and walk out of the concrete bowl on its own. They ended up having to pull out the tranquilizer.
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“We’ve seen a lot of animals in town, never a moose in the bottom of a skate park,” Steve Langlas said. He and his wife Missy watched the action as the moose waited patiently for assistance.
At the scene, along with the residents who were there watching were the Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks as well as the Carbon County Sheriff’s Office, the Red Lodge Fire Rescue, and the Red Lodge Police.
It was a big day in Red Lodge. The skate park was closed, as well as surrounding streets. The moose, believed to be one that hangs out in town, was safely relocated outside of town after being tranquilized.
“The moose is around. It’s kind of known as our local moose,” local resident Sam Merrick said.
“We’re all looking for a safe resolve to the whole situation because he is the town moose. We’d like to see him wandering around or going back into the hills at some point again.”
If only the moose had brought a skateboard with him to the skate park. All this excitement could have been avoided.
