BILLINGS — Two residents of a rural summer subdivision south of Red Lodge were injured by a moose along Rock Creek Saturday afternoon. A dog from the same subdivision was injured by the same moose in a separate incident Sunday morning. None of the injuries was life-threatening.
Because the cow moose apparently was trying to protect its calf from dogs, Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks wardens decided to take no action against the moose. Also, many of the subdivision’s residents have left their summer cabins for the winter. The caretaker at the subdivision will warn all residents that three moose – the cow and calf as well as a bull – are in the area and that they should take necessary precautions, particularly when walking their dogs.
Both incidents happened in the 400 Ranch subdivision south of Red Lodge along Rock Creek.
Nadine Steel of Billings said she and her husband, Ron, were walking with their Golden Retriever through the 400 Ranch Saturday afternoon when they happened upon the cow and calf, which were eating lilacs next to one of the cabins. The couple was only 15 feet from the cow moose when they first saw it, she said. The dog, which does not see or hear well, was leading the way and walked past the wildlife without noticing. When the retriever turned around to see if its owners were following, the moose ran over Ron, knocking him to the ground.
Ron was on his back in the roadway and the moose was pawing him in the chest, Nadine said Monday in a telephone interview from her Billings home. “I thought, my gosh, I’ve got to do something,” she said. So she whacked the moose with the dog leash in her hand.
When the moose turned its attention to her, Nadine said, she ran. She does not remember whether the moose knocked her down or whether she stumbled on the gravel road. She remembers the moose kicking her twice in the head and stomping on her for “what seemed like just seconds.”
By that time, Nadine said, Ron got up and chased the moose into the woods by hitting it with his jacket. Neighbors helped Steels to the local clinic, where they were checked over and Nadine got stitches for a cut on her head.
Sunday morning, the moose were in the same yard eating the same lilacs when the neighbor, who had helped Steels, let her aging collie dog out of the house. The cow moose attacked the dog, breaking its leg. The dog is recovering after surgery at a Billings veterinary clinic, Nadine said.
The confrontation was frightening, Nadine said. “I’ve got a lot of hoof prints on me that I don’t know how they got there.” Ron has two hoof prints on his chest, she said.
But Ron Steele told game wardens that the moose was just doing what moose do – protecting its calf from dogs. He suggested that they take no action.
“Ron feels a little more like that than I do,” Nadine said. “I’m a little angry at the moose.”
FWP biologist Shawn Stewart of Red Lodge said we all can learn from the Steels’ experience. The 400 Ranch sits on the edge of a swampy area. “It is about the most beautiful piece of moose habitat along Rock Creek,” He said. “It is a moose magnet.”
Because a bull showed up in the 400 Ranch over the weekend, the cow still could be rutting, Stewart said. “It’s been my experience that (moose) cows with calves can always be a little obnoxious. Cows in heat can be even a little more touchy.”
The lesson, Stewart said, is that moose do not like dogs, so all dogs walking in moose country always should be on a leash. And people walking in moose habitat need to be extra wary of their surroundings, particularly at this time of year.
-FWP-
Recent News
