Two brothers were snowmobiling east of Idaho Falls when they encounter a territorial moose that charges one of the brothers waving his arms to get the animal's attention. The moose charges and the brother jumps right before the moose hits the snowmobile and tumbles into the snow. The brother gets on his damaged snowmobile. It was all captured on video.
One moose was not amused when encountering an Idaho family in the wild, and it was all captured on video.
Idaho Family Snowmobiling When a Moose Steps into the Path
6ABC News reported that on 2 March 2023, "brothers Jeremiah and Josiah are snowmobiling east of Idaho Falls with their family Wednesday morning."
Josiah got ahead of the family on his snowmobile when a moose steps onto the path, separating Josiah from the rest of the family. The moose looks at the group, and then Josiah Bigelow starts waving his arms to get its attention, and it turns towards him. At that moment, Josiah was an estimated 100 yards away.
Jeremiah described the moose to 6ABC News.
He said:
"She had her head down, ears were pinned back and she looked very angry." -Jeremiah Bigelow (Source: 6ABC News)
The moose then charges aggressively at Josiah, who was facing the moose, and when he sees it charging, he tries to quickly start his snowmobile and then he barely manages to jump off of the snowmobile as the moose collided with the seat of the snowmobile, and tumbled into the snow.
Josiah describes that moment to 6ABC News.
He said:
"I hit the throttle on my snowmobile and it just dies. I look back over my shoulder and I see this moose charging me, and at that moment I'm just like, 'Okay, I'm just gonna get outta here.'" -Josiah Bigelow (Source: 6ABC News)
He said:
"Oh my gosh, I could have really been hurt and just basically grateful that I made it out." -Josiah Bigelow (Source: 6ABC News)
The snowmobile was damaged by the moose, but the moose and Josiah were not hurt. The picture below shows the snowmobile after the incident.
Jeremiah Bigelow Posted the Incident on Instagram
Jeremiah Bigelow posted the following on Instagram on his account (@supercubidaho).
He posted the following message:
"So… this humbled us. We were riding and my brother got ahead of us. A moose came onto the trail and got in between us. I had my son and two other friends with us. We stopped. Moments before I started filming, the noise charged us but stopped 20’ from us. That scared me. Moose are huge. I had put my snowmachine in reverse ( that’s the beeping noise) but I could not back up because my boy was right hehind me on an older sled that did not have reverse. My brother saw what had happened and was trying to draw the moose’ attention away from us. Well… he did. It looked like the moose was going to step@off the trail into the woods for a minute, but it changed its mind and did a sudden charge. My brother thought he could hit the throttle and get out of there but the engine died when he did. Had my brother not jumped when he did, he would have been crushed under the full weight if the moose against the handle bars. I raced ahead in case he attacked again, but the moose decided it was done and ran off as I approached. Lesson learned… brother should have continued on and given it more space. We should have gotten our sleds turned around as well. Bad scenario with an okay outcome. Moose was unharmed and I saw it later walking just fine. Scary." -Jeremiah Bigelow (Source: @supercubidaho on Instagram)
VIDEO: "Family Survives Close Encounter with a Moose"
In the video below, see the encounter between Josiah and the moose.
In Alaska, There are More Moose Attacks Than Bear Attacks
Alaska Department of Fish and Game (ADFG) reported that "more people in Alaska are injured by moose than by bears each year."
Experts recommend that if a person encounters a moose in the wild, stay calm and back away slowly. ADFG shares "If a moose charges, try to get behind something solid, like a tree, or retreat to a safe place, like inside a building or car."
Moose are territorial and will charge if provoked, as this family experienced. Always keep this in mind when encountering this animal in the wild.
Please share this article on social media so others can be informed about this story.
Sources
Alaska Department of Fish and Game. "What to Do About Aggressive Moose."
6abc Philadelphia. "Family survives close encounter with a moose." 6abc Philadelphia. 5 March 2023.
Jeremiah Bigelow Instagram account: @supercubidaho Video post.
Comments / 37