Game officials dispatch Canyon moose

By RICHARD HANNERS - Whitefish Pilot

An older bull moose that had been attacking skiers and snowmobilers on the Canyon Creek trail behind Big Mountain was killed by Fish, Wildlife and Parks personnel on Sunday.

The moose first attracted attention on Dec. 29 when it reportedly attacked and damaged several snowmobiles and a grooming machine below Fiberglass Hill, the same area where a large avalanche on Sunday killed two skiers.

FWP personnel patrolled the area four times afterwards. Wildlife conflict specialist Eric Wenum and warden Chris Crane reported seeing moose and moose tracks but were unable to locate an aggressive moose.

FWP personnel were back patrolling the area Jan. 9 after receiving reports of an aggressive moose encountering skiers, but they were unable to find the suspect moose for the next three days.

David Marx, a photographer from Whitefish who skis down into the Canyon Creek area about twice a week, said he and a friend had skied down from the Flower Point area on Jan. 9, reaching the bottom of the canyon about 1:20 p.m.

He said he spotted the aggressive moose rise up from where it was bedded down next to the snowmobile trail.

"We skied within 20 feet of it when we first encountered it," he said. "My buddy turned around, his eyes big, and said, 'Moose.'"

Marx, who has worked as a rafting guide and spends a lot of time in the backcountry, said this was the closest he'd come to a moose. He said he'd read about a moose attacking snowmobiles in the area one day earlier, but the news report hadn't mentioned Fiberglass Hill.

A number of other skiers and snowmobilers had aggressive encounters with the moose later in the afternoon.

FWP personnel who examined the moose on Sunday found it was an older, 7-9 year-old bull that had already lost its antlers. Both eyes were abnormal and appeared to be affected by a corneal disease.

"It is likely that the moose had very limited vision, which could explain its erratic and aggressive behavior," FWP spokesman John Fraley said. "The animal was in poor condition and had virtually no body fat."

"This was a very clear case of a significant threat to public safety," FWP Region 1 warden captain Lee Anderson said. "With this kind of abnormality, the animal was definitely dangerous."

Region 1 supervisor Jim Satterfield noted that FWP and Forest Service staff spent a number of days in a difficult effort to respond to concerns about this moose.

"We dispatch an animal only as a last resort," he said. "In this case, this was the only responsible course of action, given the incident with the skiers and the condition of the moose."