WESTBROOK — Police spent several hours Wednesday morning pursuing a moose they feared could pose a traffic hazard during the morning commute.
The cow moose was spotted near the Westbrook Arterial and Forest Street and would disappear into the woods before reappearing, said Capt. Michael Nugent.
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Eventually the moose was seen on Seavey Street. Officers, wardens and wildlife biologists from the Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife were able to contain her between a building and a fence in a back yard, Nugent said.
A biologist tranquilized the moose with a dart and then with an injection after she became woozy, Nugent said.
City police respond to moose incidents a couple of times a year, Nugent said. Most times, they wander back into the woods on their own, he said.
The moose, estimated to weigh between 600 and 700 pounds, was a potential danger to motorists. But no such problems were reported.
“They’re so big and they’re not afraid of much. Their defense is to stand there and stare at the car,” Nugent said.
The moose was put into a warden service truck around 10 a.m.
The moose was taken to Leavitt Plantation, an 8,647-acre parcel of forestland in Parsonsfield, near the New Hampshire border. That location was chosen because it was both remote and didn’t require a very long drive, said Cpl. John MacDonald of the Maine Warden Service.
The stress caused by tranquilizing an animal can prove fatal and a long journey can add to that stress, MacDonald said.
In this case, the moose was removed from the truck and given a counteracting drug to revive her, MacDonald said.
“It wandered off in good condition,” he said.
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