Moose Has an Arrow Escape
Anchorage Daily News / May 5, 2004
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A young bull moose with a cheap aluminum arrow in its rump was treated and released, with a new ear tag, Monday afternoon by state biologists and wildlife officers.
A young bull moose with a cheap aluminum arrow in its rump was treated and released, with a new ear tag, Monday afternoon by state biologists and wildlife officers.
The moose was reported by several residents along the Campbell Creek greenbelt south of Dowling Road. It had been carrying the arrow at a 45-degree angle, as if it had been shot from above, perhaps by someone on a deck, said biologist Rick Sinnott, with the Alaska Department of Fish and Game. After darting the animal with a tranquilizer, Sinnott chased it down the creek to an island, where it collapsed. Two state wildlife officers stood by with shotguns, and assistant biologist Jessy Coltrane helped with the medical exam. The arrow was easily plucked, and Sinnott said he could not find a tip. He didn't dig further because the wound was too close to the spine. "If this arrow had hit the moose an inch in any direction, it probably would have penetrated the body cavity or nicked a major blood vessel," he said later. Several moose shot with arrows or darts are reported in the Bowl each year, Sinnott said. Some of them die. This bull was lucky. "It wasn't limping or having difficulty standing," Sinnott said. "Even if the tip of a target point is embedded in the spine, it'll probably heal and be OK." |
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