"I hit a moose and it wasn't even hurt!"

[forestgnome]

Yeah, right. We've all heard it. They are not made of titanium. They cannot absorb a hit from a ton of steel at 50 mph without being injured. Just because it didn't die instantly doesn't mean it didn't die.

Last Saturday at sunrise I saw the telltale signs of a nightime collision; broken car parts, moose droppings and no skid marks. As I have before, I searched and found a bloodtrail. I followed it and found the poor fellow where he laid down and died.

Recently, driver and moose both died in Pinkham Notch in a nightime collision. Please nag anyone heading into moose country. It might save their life.

 

[DiamondRidge]

poor thing

 

[billski]

That sux.

Drivers get really pissed at me because I drive cautiously in moose country. I wish people would recognize that we all share this land, that life is short, stop trying to do so much, slow down and smell the roses. It always strikes me as odd the way people speed like hell to get to their vacation destination to "relax." Hmmmm.

 

[--M.]

Thanks, forestgnome, that's hard to see, but valuable.

 

[Barbarossa]

A couple years back, I had a fender bender with a moose and we both got off lucky. Going over Kancamagus pass early one morning, I encountered a cow that just had to cross. I tried the left lane to avoid her, but she chose that for her escape route. She took off my passenger side mirror and I could see where it had scraped off some of her hair. She probably had a big bruise underneath.

Regarding the 'ton of steel' phrase: Curb weight of a 2005 Honda Civic Si is 2740 lbs. Curb weight of the 1998 Ford Windstar I was driving is 3800 lbs.

 

[Puck]

That sux.

Drivers get really pissed at me because I drive cautiously in moose country. I wish people would recognize that we all share this land, that life is short, stop trying to do so much, slow down and smell the roses. It always strikes me as odd the way people speed like hell to get to their vacation destination to "relax." Hmmmm.

Everyone has some place to go...us, the moose, the toads, the swallow tail butterflies...

 

[Mattl]

I hate seeing that, cannot be sure if it was a human error or moose, just sad to see he didn't die instantly and had to suffer for a period of time.

 

[DrJJFate]

Last Saturday at sunrise I saw the telltale signs of a nightime collision; broken car parts, moose droppings and no skid marks. As I have before, I searched and found a bloodtrail. I followed it and found the poor fellow where he laid down and died.

Thank you for the detective work and excellent, albeit saddening, photo. Certainly demonstrates a cruel reality.

 

[ColdRiverRun]

just sad to see he didn't die instantly and had to suffer for a period of time.

The hope would be that the main cause of death would be of internal trauma bleeding and therefore less painful.

 

[ROCKYSUMMIT]

That is terrible. A few years back I was traveling along a narrow road in the Catskills toward a trailhead going maybe 30-35 MPH. Along side me on the drivers side, out of nowhere appeared a deer as if he was racing me. I could have grabbed it by the throat if my window was open. I was so surprised when suddenly the poor thing tried to leap sideways over my car, hooves scraping at the glass, I hit my brakes. This brought the deer sliding from my roof down across the windshield, hood, and into the road onto his feet! He then ran in front of me a bit and into the woods. I stopped, found some hair in my window, but no blood. A very lucky animal. Thanks Forestgnome for reminding everyone.

 

[NewHampshire]

Perhaps this is not the place to say this, but I will say the giant yellow moose warning signs bug me. Could they have PLEASE ended the sign in a complete sentance!? It makes the state of NH look stupid. I mean yes, warning us is a very smart thing, but instead of "Hundreds of Collisions" could they have actually made the complete sentance "Every year there are numerous collisions!" or something similar.

Sorry for the rant, but this bugs the heck out of me, and it seems to fit the idea of the thread.

Brian

P.S. And for what it is worth Russ was at his sharpest (and slowest) this past weekend as we drove down Rt. 3 and through Franconia notch around twilight.

 

[DiamondRidge]

I mean yes, warning us is a very smart thing, but instead of "Hundreds of Collisions"

Remember when they used to have the numbers of collisions on the signs, rather than "hundreds of collisions"? Sad that the poor soul in Forestgnome's post is not alone...

 

[ferrisjrf]

...warning us is a very smart thing, but instead of "Hundreds of Collisions" could they have actually made the complete sentance "Every year there are numerous collisions!" or something similar.

Road signs that include complete sentences are exceedingly rare...for obvious reasons, I always assumed.

Probably want to proofread more closely, if you're gonna complain about grammar, no?

Jason



(I'll add this , so everyone knows that I'm just f-ing around.)

 

[TDawg]

Sucks.

Driving home from my last hike on the Kanc I was passed by several groups of bikers, it being the 'beloved' bike week. Specifically, the few miles west of Lincoln Woods, where I've seen several moose in the past crossing through there. I was going 50 watching the roadsides, they all passed and continued at 70ish going downhill towards Lincoln.

All it would have took was one big ol' moose to take out the whole biker gang, luckily it wasn't their day.

And can I say thank god those obnoxiously loud things have mostly gone home to whatever flatland they came from.

 

[NewHampshire]

Road signs that include complete sentences are exceedingly rare...for obvious reasons, I always assumed.

Probably want to proofread more closely, if you're gonna complain about grammar, no?

Jason



(I'll add this , so everyone knows that I'm just f-ing around.)

I understand why long sentences are probably not a smart idea, but you have to admit those warning signs are pretty busy already.

Brian

P.S. I am notorious for my spelling errors. I type pretty fast and usually fail to proof read, so you got me there.

 

[Seeker]

Sucks.

Driving home from my last hike on the Kanc I was passed by several groups of bikers, it being the 'beloved' bike week. Specifically, the few miles west of Lincoln Woods, where I've seen several moose in the past crossing through there. I was going 50 watching the roadsides, they all passed and continued at 70ish going downhill towards Lincoln.

All it would have took was one big ol' moose to take out the whole biker gang, luckily it wasn't their day.

And can I say thank god those obnoxiously loud things have mostly gone home to whatever flatland they came from.

Just have to point out that those bikers probably do a lot for the NH economy. AND they get better gas mileage than most of us.

Just saying'...

 

[David Metsky]

And can I say thank god those obnoxiously loud things have mostly gone home to whatever flatland they came from.

That's pretty much what the moose say after us hikers pass by.

 

[bandana4me]

“I hit a DEER and it wasn’t hurt”

Except this is a true story and it ties in with TDAWG’s comments about motorcycles.

Last month on my way home in Bethlehem, I saw what appeared to be a dog on the side of the road, when it jumped in front of me I noticed in fact it was a DEER! At the time I was on my motorcycle, I avoided the deer and watched him cross the road, as I gave a deep sigh of relief, I noticed in the corner of my eye a SECOND deer. I swerved to avoid him and hit his back leg while it was in the air. It did not phase the deer and they went on there merry way. I however needed sometime to settle down as it was quite nerve racking for me.

As for motorcycles and moose, I am getting pretty good at going around them.

Maybe I should turn it into a video game “Dodging Moose on Motorcycles”

 

[forestgnome]

I shouldn't have used such a broad brush. I'm sure there are many close calls with actual contact that don't result in any injury to driver or animal.

However, there are many that are not so lucky and when they trot off into the woods it doesn't mean they are uninjured.

Also consider that if you pop a cow at this time of year, until next March, you also kill a calf or two because can't make it on their own until then.

Don't be afraid to nag your freinds.

happy trails

 

[Fitz]

I think it happens a lot too

My son and I were hunting off Route 16 in Maine last year. We came across the bones of several moose. What struck me is that they were all about 300 yards off the highway. Hit by cars was my best guess.