There are plenty of moose that roam around Saskatchewan but sometimes the best chance to catch a glimpse of one is in your own yard.
A male moose, believed to be a three-year-old bull, had to be tranquilized in a park behind homes in Regina’s Albert Park neighbourhood this morning.
The conservation officer got a call just after 7 a.m. of the sighting near the Chapters along Albert Street. The moose trotted through the neighbourhood, surprising people who lived nearby.
“I was just having my coffee and I was looking out my front window and I just saw this big moose,” said Kevin Capewell.
It had wandered right up his front lawn on Marquis Crescent, approaching the path leading up to his front door. They locked eyes through the window and Capewell watched it casually turn and explore other driveways.
“He turned around and looked at us. It was all cool with the morning air and he gave us the big breath and we could see it coming out of his nostrils,” he explained.
Sandra Provick just got off work when she saw all the police in her neighbourhood and decided to see what was going on. When she saw the moose she grabbed her camera and started taking pictures.
She just got back from a trip to northern Ontario, but had to return to the city to spot her first moose in ten years.
“They said that they see, like, 50 on the highway on this road that we took everyday and I didn’t see a single one,” she said.
The moose eventually spotted the green, open field of Plainsview Park and that’s when police blocked it in. It was shot with a dart, but officers weren’t letting anyone walk through because the moose didn’t go down right away.
“Each situation is a little different. In this case, we had to give a second dart to this moose to make sure there’s enough drug in its system so it could be handled here,” said Conservation Officer Kevin Schoepp.
A flatbed arrived and carried the moose out of the park. It will be released into the wild in the Condie area just north of Regina. Schoepp explained its common to see moose enter the city limits during the spring and the fall, but they rarely see the same moose return.