Exeunt, pursued by an elk
June 30, 2017 9:28 AM Subscribe
In which a Swedish golfer is interrupted by a playful elk (SLFacebook video). When the young elk started chasing him, he ran, all while his friends laughed at him.
Maybe the älg in Sweden are nicer than the moose over here but I'd run too if an moose calf was chasing me. Where I live the moose have a reputation of being cranky and dangerous. If you upset the calf its huge mother won't hesitate to kill you and adult moose are big - they can hold their own against grizzly bears.
posted by the stupidest genius at 10:04 AM on June 30, 2017 [11 favorites]
posted by the stupidest genius at 10:04 AM on June 30, 2017 [11 favorites]
Mynd you, møøse bites Kan be pretti nasti...
posted by enjoymoreradio at 10:09 AM on June 30, 2017 [27 favorites]
posted by enjoymoreradio at 10:09 AM on June 30, 2017 [27 favorites]
That was my thought too, genius. It may be a calf but it's still about as tall as the golfer and moose can have a hell of a kick.
posted by tavella at 10:11 AM on June 30, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by tavella at 10:11 AM on June 30, 2017 [1 favorite]
they can hold their own against grizzly bears
And snow.
posted by Greg_Ace at 10:31 AM on June 30, 2017 [2 favorites]
And snow.
posted by Greg_Ace at 10:31 AM on June 30, 2017 [2 favorites]
One of my strongest wildlife memories is being in a van and coming over a small rise on a dirt road to find a mother moose and two very young calves in the middle of the road in Northern Ontario. Cue throwing the van into reverse and gunning it backwards down the road as the mother moose charged us for several hundred metres.
posted by 256 at 10:52 AM on June 30, 2017 [4 favorites]
posted by 256 at 10:52 AM on June 30, 2017 [4 favorites]
One of my strongest wildlife memories is being in a van and coming over a small rise on a dirt road to find a mother moose and two very young calves in the middle of the road in Northern Ontario.
A friend of mine's older brother was driving a little ford fiesta in northern ontario when a moose ran out into the road and almost collided with his car. Instead it used his car as a berm and kicked off of it to head back the way he came. The entire top half of the passenger side of the car was caved in. If someone had been sitting there they would probably have been crushed.
Big ungulates are not to be trifled with.
posted by srboisvert at 10:57 AM on June 30, 2017 [4 favorites]
A friend of mine's older brother was driving a little ford fiesta in northern ontario when a moose ran out into the road and almost collided with his car. Instead it used his car as a berm and kicked off of it to head back the way he came. The entire top half of the passenger side of the car was caved in. If someone had been sitting there they would probably have been crushed.
Big ungulates are not to be trifled with.
posted by srboisvert at 10:57 AM on June 30, 2017 [4 favorites]
I don't go to Northern New England a whole terrible amount, but the last time I was there, my traveling companions had me absolutely terrified of coming across moose on the road. Like, I white-knuckled it all the way through Vermont.
posted by soren_lorensen at 11:00 AM on June 30, 2017 [2 favorites]
posted by soren_lorensen at 11:00 AM on June 30, 2017 [2 favorites]
Big ungulates are not to be trifled with.
Absolutely. Reversing in panic was not an over reaction. That moose would have totalled our van and probably been just fine.
I actually have a friend who was taking a Greyhound bus across Manitoba when it hit a moose in the middle of the night. The bus was badly enough damaged that they had to just sit and wait while Greyhound sent another bus to finish the trip.
The moose got up and walked back into the woods.
posted by 256 at 11:08 AM on June 30, 2017 [7 favorites]
Absolutely. Reversing in panic was not an over reaction. That moose would have totalled our van and probably been just fine.
I actually have a friend who was taking a Greyhound bus across Manitoba when it hit a moose in the middle of the night. The bus was badly enough damaged that they had to just sit and wait while Greyhound sent another bus to finish the trip.
The moose got up and walked back into the woods.
posted by 256 at 11:08 AM on June 30, 2017 [7 favorites]
Instead it used his car as a berm and kicked off of it to head back the way he came.
Moose Parkour. That is literally the coolest thing I've heard of all day.
posted by notsnot at 11:14 AM on June 30, 2017 [9 favorites]
Moose Parkour. That is literally the coolest thing I've heard of all day.
posted by notsnot at 11:14 AM on June 30, 2017 [9 favorites]
I'd run too if an moose calf was chasing me.
The problem though is that the calf isn't chasing you until you start running, and if it's intent enough, it'll catch you anyway. Moose are faster than you.
None of that is to say one absolutely shouldn't flee, but the guy in the video was right in saying he was wrong in how he handled the situation.
posted by gusottertrout at 11:14 AM on June 30, 2017
The problem though is that the calf isn't chasing you until you start running, and if it's intent enough, it'll catch you anyway. Moose are faster than you.
None of that is to say one absolutely shouldn't flee, but the guy in the video was right in saying he was wrong in how he handled the situation.
posted by gusottertrout at 11:14 AM on June 30, 2017
(...and having been in an accident with a juvenile deer just over a month ago, yeah ungulates can fuck a car up.)
posted by notsnot at 11:15 AM on June 30, 2017
posted by notsnot at 11:15 AM on June 30, 2017
Moose Parkour
guys fyi i've got band name dibs
posted by ZaphodB at 11:37 AM on June 30, 2017 [6 favorites]
guys fyi i've got band name dibs
posted by ZaphodB at 11:37 AM on June 30, 2017 [6 favorites]
A Møøse once bit my sister... No realli!
posted by It's Raining Florence Henderson at 11:58 AM on June 30, 2017 [2 favorites]
posted by It's Raining Florence Henderson at 11:58 AM on June 30, 2017 [2 favorites]
Oh my god that made me nervous to watch. Where I live there are lots of moose and you do not want to encounter them. They can trample you if you're on foot and they get mad at you; they can kill you if they step out in front of you on the highway. It's my biggest fear driving at dusk. Keep in mind this is a calf, too! And look how big it is already. Adult moose can weigh 540 kg (1200 lbs) and reach just under 2.1 m (7 feet) at the shoulder--there's a huge head on top of that shoulder, too.
And they run surprisingly quickly for such large animals.
posted by hurdy gurdy girl at 12:00 PM on June 30, 2017
And they run surprisingly quickly for such large animals.
posted by hurdy gurdy girl at 12:00 PM on June 30, 2017
And they run surprisingly quickly for such large animals.
posted by hurdy gurdy girl at 3:00 PM on June 30 [+] [!]
They run surprisingly quick for any animal. Those things can hit more than 30mph, which would put them just slightly below A GODDAMN TIGER.
I did an extended road trip in the North a while ago and had encounters with two separate animals crossing the road right in front of the vehicle. First was a black bear, second was a young moose. It wasn't the bear that scared me.
posted by ZaphodB at 12:16 PM on June 30, 2017
posted by hurdy gurdy girl at 3:00 PM on June 30 [+] [!]
They run surprisingly quick for any animal. Those things can hit more than 30mph, which would put them just slightly below A GODDAMN TIGER.
I did an extended road trip in the North a while ago and had encounters with two separate animals crossing the road right in front of the vehicle. First was a black bear, second was a young moose. It wasn't the bear that scared me.
posted by ZaphodB at 12:16 PM on June 30, 2017
Moose Parkour
guys fyi i've got band name dibs
DAMMIT
posted by Greg_Ace at 12:20 PM on June 30, 2017 [1 favorite]
guys fyi i've got band name dibs
DAMMIT
posted by Greg_Ace at 12:20 PM on June 30, 2017 [1 favorite]
it must have been the 19th hole
that's where you find the elkahole
posted by pyramid termite at 2:55 PM on June 30, 2017 [5 favorites]
that's where you find the elkahole
posted by pyramid termite at 2:55 PM on June 30, 2017 [5 favorites]
...
posted by Sebmojo at 4:19 PM on June 30, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by Sebmojo at 4:19 PM on June 30, 2017 [1 favorite]
A friend bought a farm in Sweden, from the church which had been bequeathed it by the pious and elderly farmer who previously owned it. Said farmer had been strongly anti-hunting and forbade it on his land: said land had a lot of forest, lake and unfarmable bumpy bits.
The local wildlife had long since learned that this was a safe haven. They didn't learn to read the local notices about the farmer.
When my friend took possession, he was enthusiastically lobbied by the local hunters to allow them in. He agreed, but imposed tribute.
I visited him a few months afterwards. I learned two things - there is a *lot* of meat on a moose, and they make very good eating.
tl;dr - elk do not have it all their own way, because they cannot read.
posted by Devonian at 4:29 PM on June 30, 2017
The local wildlife had long since learned that this was a safe haven. They didn't learn to read the local notices about the farmer.
When my friend took possession, he was enthusiastically lobbied by the local hunters to allow them in. He agreed, but imposed tribute.
I visited him a few months afterwards. I learned two things - there is a *lot* of meat on a moose, and they make very good eating.
tl;dr - elk do not have it all their own way, because they cannot read.
posted by Devonian at 4:29 PM on June 30, 2017
My mom used to have a house in Bath ME right on the Kennebec and it was not uncommon to see a whale in the river. I took boy up when he was 3. We were fishing and my son hooked something that pulled his rod away and dunks him before he lets go and then whale surfaces and kid thinks the two events are related and now I've got something big. It's not the whale. Let go, let go! IT'S FISHING FOR US! THIS IS BACKWARDS FISHING! He's convinced and I understand and don't even try. So we start heading back towards the house and there is a Moose in the grassy part of the yard who would like to get to know us better. It's got a couple feet of chain link fence on its antlers. Couple steps, shakes, couple steps, shakes. I'd like to help but no.
This is unusual. We're in town. We drop our fish and scramble up the rocks until another moose shows and they start battering each other. Shoving rack to rack. Big dirt clod hits boy in the face. Your mom is in the kitchen laughing at us and WE ARE JUST A SNACK! His vision is better but no doubt she is laughing at us. Grandma is crazy. Why would anyone want to live somewhere where they are surrounded by monsters? They are busy now. Both entangled in the chain link. We can go down that side and right up to the house. Plan? Plan. We run. I'm throwing you over the wall if they do come at us but I don't think they will. Ok. We run.
He was really frightened and still remembers but it's funny to him now. Two rods lost and moose stomped our fish.
posted by Mr. Yuck at 6:16 PM on June 30, 2017 [4 favorites]
This is unusual. We're in town. We drop our fish and scramble up the rocks until another moose shows and they start battering each other. Shoving rack to rack. Big dirt clod hits boy in the face. Your mom is in the kitchen laughing at us and WE ARE JUST A SNACK! His vision is better but no doubt she is laughing at us. Grandma is crazy. Why would anyone want to live somewhere where they are surrounded by monsters? They are busy now. Both entangled in the chain link. We can go down that side and right up to the house. Plan? Plan. We run. I'm throwing you over the wall if they do come at us but I don't think they will. Ok. We run.
He was really frightened and still remembers but it's funny to him now. Two rods lost and moose stomped our fish.
posted by Mr. Yuck at 6:16 PM on June 30, 2017 [4 favorites]
Once my buddy was helping some friends move in Ontario. He and his friend were driving out in the middle of nowhere and they saw a moose by the side of the road.
He said something about "Man, you don't want to hit one of those!"
"Why not?"
"Because they're tall and they'll fall right into the car."
"Do they bite?"
posted by sneebler at 8:00 PM on June 30, 2017 [1 favorite]
He said something about "Man, you don't want to hit one of those!"
"Why not?"
"Because they're tall and they'll fall right into the car."
"Do they bite?"
posted by sneebler at 8:00 PM on June 30, 2017 [1 favorite]
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