Moose kills Photographer

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1) I do think the tittle is all wrong... it should be " Photographer gets himself killed by pushing his luck". The moose is quite innocent in all of this so why does it gets blamed?

2) In general photographers aren't known for their self-preservation instinct... for example
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Another Photographer Killed During Photo Shoot On Train Tracks

Last month, Union Pacific launched a campaign - #TracksAreForTrains - to remind the public to stay off the railroad tracks and last night, another person was struck and killed by a train during a photo shoot.
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I’m back in Toronto after a motorcycle ride up on the Billy Diamond Hwy (formerly James Bay Rd) this weekend. While I was alert for seeing a moose, I had pretty mixed feelings about actually wanting to see one. I had my 600 PF with me, so a distance shot was possible, but if the creature was in my path, what was I to do?

I did spot a bear sitting along the road who just watched me ride by… I hadn’t seen it soon enough to have to decide what to do. 🤓
 
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Cameron T said:
" 70-year-old Alaska man who was attempting to take photos of two newborn moose calves was attacked and killed by their mother,"

I'm going to withold any further comments
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I don’t think there’s enough info to condemn the man…sure, he was looking for the calves but I didn’t see any claim that np he was doing something unwise…and we would all look for moose calves if we knew theywere about wouldn’t we…and I think that most photographers as opposed to idiot tourists would attempt to do so safely…but putting yourselves out in nature sometimes mean things happen. On my recent trip to Tanzania with Steve…we had a cheetah jump up on the back of the truck as well as a lioness close enough that I could have reached out and petted her if I was so inclined…and either of them could easily have gotten into the vehicle and maimed people. If one is going to go to wild places and see wild things that might be dangerous…one needs to accept a little risk…and we have no evidence either way to suggest this man was dumb vice unlucky.

Another comment said he was pushing his luck…does this mean that taking pictures of the lioness and her 4 cubs was pushing our luck? I don’t think so and I imagine Steve doesn’t think so either…but we all signed waivers stating it was somewhat dangerous.
 
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It's largely a matter of knowing your location and subject matter.

I have seen a bull moose come running toward a cow in Grand Teton NP. There were a couple of people in its path and they quickly scattered - and were safe. But a galloping 1500 pound moose get's really large when it's running toward you.

I bet most people don't know that alligators can jump and get half their body out of the water. Neither did the great blue heron flying by.
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Ductape said:
tI thought this was relevant:

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Moose kills Alaska man attempting to take photos of her newborn calves

Authorities in Alaska say a moose has killed a 70-year-old man in the community of Homer
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When I've been in the wild, I'm more on edge with a moose close by than a black bear. I once was canoeing in Quetico and came across a moose and her two calves as we paddled on a small stream that connected two lakes. We had to be less than 30 feet from the cow and calves as we came around a bend in the stream. My camera was in a dry beg at me feet, but I didn't want to spook the cow. I never regretted passing on the shot. The memory is captured forever.
 
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Winston Churchill (Sir) said:
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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Having lived in Kenya and Tanzania for a year back in the 80's I can attest to the fact that there is wildlife everywhere! I was playing chess with a co-worker at my house when a Black Mamba snake (top 10 most poisonous snakes) slithered under our feet. I swept him/her out the front door with a broom. As an aside, I lost the chess match. ;-)

Before exiting the house we always took a gander around to make sure the coast was clear. I lived in Karen, just outside Nairobi, and it was common for wildlife to be seen on our acreage. On one occasion I came face to face with an elephant because I was too focused on the flowers at my feet as I was walking along a pathway. It seems the elephant was as startled as I was. I ran one direction, he ran the other direction, so all was good. It could have been a different outcome.

More people were gored by the water buffalo than were attacked by the lions or other big cats in those days. Wildlife is beautiful, but watching too many disney cartoons some people think they are cute and cuddly.

As a hunting guide in the Yukon we rarely saw wildlife. In Africa though it is impossible to not see something at every turn. TBH, I always wondered why Africans were starving with so much wildlife. Strange.

In the African game parks we had a saying: stay in your vehicle unless you have a deep desire to be eaten.
 
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The gentleman killed was a long time Alaskan, and he knew the risks. But he had also survived up here for a lot of years, and I'm sure that there were other encounters over his lifetime that he survived so they made good stories. I myself have been charged more than once by a moose that I didn't know was there, I've had bears huffing outside of my tent and had another one pounce on my tent. One time a moose came out of the bush right next to my car, where my dog was tied to a tree. Both dog and moose were surprised and alarmed, the result being a kick from the moose that just missed the dog but put a nice dent in the car (which was a great story!). There are a lot of circumstances that can lead to an unfortunate wildlife encounter, many of them outside of our control. In this case, yes, he was looking to try to get more photographs. Earlier in the day he had gotten photos of her giving birth, so I'm sure he was excited. I don't know exactly where he was when he encountered the moose, but his friend said that the brush was thicker than normal this year. Did he use his best judgement? Maybe not, but it's really hard to tell from a newspaper article. It is a great reminder to always be aware of our surroundings, but honestly, if you're walking down the street and there's nothing but thick brush along side of it, you just never know.
 
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Winston Churchill (Sir) said:
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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Wow! Things must have really gone to s**t since I was there a few years ago. There was lovely hotels, luxury camps, Landrovers with fuel in them. And delightful photo ops everywhere I looked. But I guess that was 10 years ago and Sir Winston who is on the ground there now suggests things have gone south. 😎
 
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Maurie said:
Wow! Things must have really gone to s**t since I was there a few years ago. There was lovely hotels, luxury camps, Landrovers with fuel in them. And delightful photo ops everywhere I looked. But I guess that was 10 years ago and Sir Winston who is on the ground there now suggests things have gone south. 😎
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You do know that was said tongue in cheek. don't you...
Africa rocks. There simply isnt anything like it anywhere else in the world.
And that includes us people, who have a very very wicked sense of humor - also not found anywhere else in the world
 
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About 50 years ago I was in Yellowstone and was trying to get pictures of a couple bull moose from a heavily treed ledge overlooking a wetland along the river. I was about 100 yards away and I thought fairly well concealed. Suddenly one of the moose broke away and started up the slope at an angle from me. I started making my away toward a road about 200 yds away. The moose circled and followed me as I made my great escape. Had I stuck around I have no doubt I would not have fared well. They are dangerous animals and deserve a healthy distance from photographers and casual visitors. Given recent tendencies to press into their space I am surprised there are not more deaths than there are. Not that I blame this photographer. It would be easy to walk up on a moose without knowing it's there.
 
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Winston Churchill (Sir) said:
You do know that was said tongue in cheek. don't you...
Africa rocks. There simply isnt anything like it anywhere else in the world.
And that includes us people, who have a very very wicked sense of humor - also not found anywhere else in the world
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My dear Elsa: We have enough of your lot now living in Godzone to comprehensively comprehend Setheffreken's humour. Which is not too far short of our own comedic persuasion. Back at ya. 🇳🇿
 
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I was up by our water tank when a couple of moose in rut came charging out of the trees. I had not idea I was still capable of a flying leap into the back of a truck! Fortunately they were not interested in us!
 
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RikWriter said:
Of all the wild animals I've faced down in the wild, the one that worried me the most was a nine-foot alligator on land.
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If you were from FL you would not think that I'm guessing. Those of us who live down here mostly ignore gators…sure, there are stupid people that walk their dogs right along the edge of the water or go out there in the dark but by and large the lizards will leave you alone if you leave them alone. We live in a gated community and there are a total of 3 that wander between the pond 20 feet behind our lanai and a couple other ponds…largest one is probably 9 or 10 feet…but we leave it alone and it leaves us alone.

I'm not going to say they're harmless…they're not…but the dangers are over rated and over hyped. Over at Shark Valley in the Everglades I've ridden my bike within 5 or 6 feet of really huge gators that were lying next to the bike path…one watches them to make sure they're not interested and then just goes on by…but then those particular gators are probably used to people being right there.
 
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Moose can be scary. I was in Alaska in 2018. I was photographing wildflowers along a trail in Denali just as you enter the park (headed to a lake not far from the river. While sitting with my macro lens getting some flowers, I heard something moving in the brush behind me. About 30 yards or so was a moose calf. Ohhh oh, that can't be good. Then I noticed a cow moose about 50 yards the other direction. I was between them. I got up and walked up the trail in the opposite direction so as to not agitate the mama or make her think I was approaching her calf.

While she was not aggressive toward me, she was very assertive and made sure I understood she was unhappy with my choice of location to photograph flowers. She walked out on the path to the place I was [edit - was as in past tense, I was already heading away and was out of immediate danger zone] standing and walked about 15 feet or so up the path before crossing the trail and going over to the calf.

This photo was shot with a 100-400 at 400 and is cropped. I was not that close to her but, I can assure you, I was nervous for a little bit as I was heading away from her and the baby. Needless to say, I turned around, went back to the trail head and went down another trail. An agitated mama might not have been so understanding if I had tried to go down that same trail again.

I do not live in "moose country" but have been around them enough to understand a mama with young is nothing to be trifled with.

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Anjin San said:
If you were from FL you would not think that I'm guessing. Those of us who live down here mostly ignore gators…sure, there are stupid people that walk their dogs right along the edge of the water or go out there in the dark but by and large the lizards will leave you alone if you leave them alone. We live in a gated community and there are a total of 3 that wander between the pond 20 feet behind our lanai and a couple other ponds…largest one is probably 9 or 10 feet…but we leave it alone and it leaves us alone.

I'm not going to say they're harmless…they're not…but the dangers are over rated and over hyped. Over at Shark Valley in the Everglades I've ridden my bike within 5 or 6 feet of really huge gators that were lying next to the bike path…one watches them to make sure they're not interested and then just goes on by…but then those particular gators are probably used to people being right there.
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Better not to assume. I was born in FL and lived there for about 40 years of my life. I was at a cattle ranch in Wauchula and the gator charged out of a watering hole at me and my friend.
 
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