Moose kills Photographer

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Anyone who spends time in Alaska is aware of the injuries and fatalities caused by the moose that come right into town. The people attacked are often going to their car and there are no calves in the area.

I am amazed that this does not happen more often. Many times I have seen people in Yellowstone approaching sows with cubs of the year and trying to get close enough to use their point and shoot camera. Common sense is very rare.
 
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JoelKlein said:
One of the reasons I’m afraid to travel to Africa. I have no clue if 10 minutes before I arrive to a spot, someone with no knowledge messed with an elephant. And now he is all out chasing people.
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That's why you should always travel with a friend to places where there are dangerous animals like bears, lions, elephants etc. All you have to do is make sure you can outrun your friend. :LOL:
 
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realspeed said:
this is what I get from your link

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That happens. Put "Moose kills Alaska man attempting to take photos of her newborn calves" into Google and you should be able to find versions of the article.
 
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JoelKlein said:
One of the reasons I’m afraid to travel to Africa. I have no clue if 10 minutes before I arrive to a spot, someone with no knowledge messed with an elephant. And now he is all out chasing people.
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Ya Africa is a wild place,. We have hippos in the street, Lions in the camp, no electricity and we live like homeless people in tents 😂
No really man - you need to get out more - and LIVE
 
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I read that article and what I got from it was that the photographers were searching for the mom and calves, so perhaps stalking to some degree. That is never a good thing to do for any animal, especially one with babies. We do stupid things, we pay the price, we read those stories often. Sometimes we get carried away with trying to get the shot but we need to use good sense and stay a respectful distance away.
 
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Viathelens said:
I read that article and what I got from it was that the photographers were searching for the mom and calves, so perhaps stalking to some degree. That is never a good thing to do for any animal, especially one with babies. We do stupid things, we pay the price, we read those stories often. Sometimes we get carried away with trying to get the shot but we need to use good sense and stay a respectful distance away.
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Maybe he once worked for BBC. They have those close and inner circle footage of wildlife.
 
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JoelKlein said:
Maybe he once worked for BBC. They have those close and inner circle footage of wildlife.
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Perhaps, I think people just get carried away in the moment and simply don't respect wildlife at times, no matter who they might have worked for. I've done my share of stupid things "in the moment." I hope he got the shot! One of the good things about this story is no agency went after the moose to kill her...she simply moved on and they let her be.
 
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Viathelens said:
Perhaps, I think people just get carried away in the moment and simply don't respect wildlife at times, no matter who they might have worked for. I've done my share of stupid things "in the moment." I hope he got the shot! One of the good things about this story is no agency went after the moose to kill her...she simply moved on and they let her be.
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I think it's more ignorance in the clinical sense. They honestly don't know, for the same reasons they don't know how to garden, chop firewood, start a campfire, etc. How many people do we need to see get gored or sent flying by a bison/moose/elk for them to understand that they're not cute and cuddly, they're dangerous?
 
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There's a quote attributed to H. L. Mencken that goes "Nobody ever went broke underestimating the intelligence of the American people." How true, but it's probably not only confined to Americans. The stupidity I've seen demonstrated by photographers, birders and other wildlife viewers over the years is nothing short of amazing.
 
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JoelKlein said:
One of the reasons I’m afraid to travel to Africa. I have no clue if 10 minutes before I arrive to a spot, someone with no knowledge messed with an elephant. And now he is all out chasing people.
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The elephant would have already taught the person a lesson before you arrived.

FWIW in a previous lifetime I spent six summers in Denali National Park with no bear spray and no firearms (which are not allowed in the park). Bears, moose, wolves, oh my! Brown Bears (a.k.a. Grizzly Bears) were frequent where I worked and moose wandered through the camp, interrupting our volleyball games. A little knowledge of animal behavior and some common sense go a long way.

I was chased by a moose once. I had been sitting on a log by a lake when the momma moose & calf wandered out of the woods to graze in the lake. Initially they were a safe distance away but they slowly moved toward my log as they grazed. Eventually they were uncomfortably close and several scenarios ran through my head including: 1) I can slowly and calmly stand up and walk away; no harm no foul, and 2) she doesn't know I'm here and if I stand up to leave she'll be startled and will charge. Momma moose thought of another scenario: "You're too close". She lowered her head, stamped her feet and little balls of fire, impending thermonuclear reactions, were in her eyes.

The nerve of some moose! Here I was minding my own business, she had moved closer to me and she's now telling me that I'm too close! However I thought it prudent not to prolong the interaction, and it's astonishing how quickly one can run through a spruce forest with waterlogged hiking boots and ~10 lb of camera gear. There was quite a disturbance in the lake behind me but instead of turning to see what it was I used my imagination.

BTW moose can run very fast even in water. The proper scientific name of Alaska's very large subspecies of moose is Alces alces gigas but an alternate name suggested by my co-workers is Chasus upatree fastus.

Note to those in bear country: we don't run from bears, it triggers a chase instinct. If a moose chases you, run away. They just want you to leave and they can very persuasive.
 
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We were in Banff in April/May. There were signs everywhere to give elk calves and their mommas a wide berth. There were also reports of tourists being attacked in the area.

I had found a rugged, craggy mountain to photograph at Sunrise with my 4x5. So, way before dawn I set up my gear and went under the dark cloth to get focused. When I came out, there were elk all around me. Having nowhere to run, I went back under the dark cloth until they meandered away. I guess there is nothing threatening about a chunk of black cloth with a couple of feet sticking out of it.
 
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Doug Herr said:
The elephant would have already taught the person a lesson before you arrived.

FWIW in a previous lifetime I spent six summers in Denali National Park with no bear spray and no firearms (which are not allowed in the park). Bears, moose, wolves, oh my! Brown Bears (a.k.a. Grizzly Bears) were frequent where I worked and moose wandered through the camp, interrupting our volleyball games. A little knowledge of animal behavior and some common sense go a long way.

I was chased by a moose once. I had been sitting on a log by a lake when the momma moose & calf wandered out of the woods to graze in the lake. Initially they were a safe distance away but they slowly moved toward my log as they grazed. Eventually they were uncomfortably close and several scenarios ran through my head including: 1) I can slowly and calmly stand up and walk away; no harm no foul, and 2) she doesn't know I'm here and if I stand up to leave she'll be startled and will charge. Momma moose thought of another scenario: "You're too close". She lowered her head, stamped her feet and little balls of fire, impending thermonuclear reactions, were in her eyes.

The nerve of some moose! Here I was minding my own business, she had moved closer to me and she's now telling me that I'm too close! However I thought it prudent not to prolong the interaction, and it's astonishing how quickly one can run through a spruce forest with waterlogged hiking boots and ~10 lb of camera gear. There was quite a disturbance in the lake behind me but instead of turning to see what it was I used my imagination.

BTW moose can run very fast even in water. The proper scientific name of Alaska's very large subspecies of moose is Alces alces gigas but an alternate name suggested by my co-workers is Chasus upatree fastus.

Note to those in bear country: we don't run from bears, it triggers a chase instinct. If a moose chases you, run away. They just want you to leave and they can very persuasive.
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Chilling story. With the moose saw that you were running for your life was she OK? all she wanted is see you RUNNING Not walking?
 
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When I saw the headline, my first thought it was a stupid tourist. However, this happened to an experienced long-time wildlife photographer and outdoorsman - on his own land. (see MSN story, below)
One can't blame the moose for protecting her calves. But a painful reminder to take nothing for granted when venturing out in the wild.

 
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