Moose & Cars

My friend Dale in Chattanooga grew up in the Canadian province of New Brunswick. A few years ago, he was driving through Maine on his way to visit his parents back home. Suddenly from the woods to his right, a bull moose came barreling into the road and right into the front of his car. The moose's body slid right across his hood, and the head went right through the windshield. One side of the bull's antlers buried itself deep into the armrest on the center console. Thankfully, Dale was uninjured except for some bruises and a small cut on the right side of his forehead where the antler barely grazed him. One foot to the left, and the antler likely would have killed him.

Here in Alaska, this sort of thing happens on almost a daily basis. Most experts agree that South Central Alaska leads the world in the dubious statistic of moose-car collisions. Here in the Mat-Su Valley, the average number of accidents per year is around 300. It has been a different story this year:



Sadly, this number is actually higher than the sign shows, as it hasn't been updated since around the first of March. Also sad is that most of these accidents happen so quickly (as was the case with my friend Dale) that there is virtually nothing to do to avoid them. The best a driver can do is stay alert and pay attention to the shoulders and edges of the road, and drive safe speeds. And hope and pray you see a moose before it is too late.

There is a lot of debate about what can be done to reduce these collisions. One idea championed by a local moose advocacy group is the relocation of moose to less populated areas. They contend that moose can be drugged, captured, and relocated to wilderness areas away from roadways. This group recently secured state funding for this and other moose related programs. The funding signifies that there is some support for the program, but many are not convinced. Some think the actual impact of the program will be minimal at best. Others contend that the program is little more than an attempt to stock wilderness areas to enable easy hunting.

There is one thing being done in the wake of moose-car accidents that just about everyone agrees on. Whenever a moose collision is reported, a group of volunteers springs into action. They rush to the accident site and salvage as much meat as possible. That meat is then given to charity groups to provide food for the needy. At least some good can come of the accident.

I hope I never become one of the numbers on the road sign. If it does happen, I at least hope my family and I escape injury. Even if we do, though, the moose will not be so lucky. When it comes to moose vs. automobile, the moose always loses.