This story was originally published in June 2019. The 2024 moose lottery results will be available by 5:30 p.m. on Saturday, June 15.
This weekend, 4,106 moose hunters will receive a much sought after permit to hunt moose this season. With Maine boasting the second-largest moose population in the country (behind Alaska), according to Visit Maine, Mainers are often lucky enough to spot moose, whether they’re hunting or not.
Here are six of our favorite moose-spotting moments — all caught on video. Below you’ll find everything from a moose crashing a yoga class to a young bull traipsing through a college campus.
Golfers got an unexpected surprise at Carrabasset Valley’s Sugarloaf Golf Course when a moose showed up on the green in June 2020.
In fall 2018, students and passersby noticed a different kind of campus visitor at the University of Maine. It was a young bull moose, running through traffic and around UMaine. “I’ve definitely seen deer on campus, but I’ve never seen a moose,” John Williams, a Portland native, said at the time. “I’ve never seen a moose ever, in fact.”
What seemed like a normal day for this researcher soon took a turn when the baby moose he was studying attacked. When the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife researcher was done and let the moose go, the calf immediately turned back and came for him. It was the first time he’d ever been attacked by a baby moose. In fairness, we’d probably fight back, too.
As a yoga practice began at a retreat last summer, a moose stumbled into the adjacent field and stayed for about three hours. He even got down on the ground in to do a little downward dog — sort of. The moose and the yoga enthusiasts kept their distance from each other, and the class continued.
To escape the summer heat, a moose took a dip in the Allagash Wilderness Waterway last July. Assistant ranger Caleb Lewis was there to capture the majestic moment all on tape. The moose seemed to notice Lewis, but kept chewing its lunch and cooling off in the water.
One might not expect a German shepherd and a moose to become friends, but if it’s going to happen anywhere, it’ll happen in Aroostook County. The Wallagrass family was surprised when their family pup, Leo, befriended a week-old moose last summer. Luckily, they shot a home movie of the encounter.
