VIDEO: Mother Moose And Baby Visit Hailey Shopping Center
Wildlife passing through town in Idaho isn't a rare occurrence. A shopper in south central Idaho recently recorded a short video showing a mother moose and its offspring hustling through a crowded business center.
Apparently, human beings aren't the only ones rushing through store parking lots this holiday season. From bear to moose, bobcats to wolverines, Idaho has a large number of wildlife that may come down from the higher elevations to put in an appearance at any given time.
Just last week, rumors of wolves roaming populated areas in Murtaugh were going around. Large paw prints were discovered by one resident. Mountain Lions made their way into neighborhoods in Idaho Falls and Hailey earlier in the year.
It was about this time last year that a mountain cat was hanging out near the post office in Kimberly. These incidents are not at all unnatural in the Gem State. It is pretty rare though that they decide to move through an area as heavily populated as a shopping center.
A December 16 upload to YouTube captured one of the more recent sightings of state wildlife mingling with residents about town. The description line of the video is classic. The producer of the video writes that the animals "made it out to the wild," implying of course that humans have the ability to create a more hostile environment for an animal than its natural habitat. The video appears to have been taken in the city of Hailey.
Maybe the mother moose was eyeballing the sale on snow shovels. The person who shot the footage did the right thing and kept a good distance from the animals. Too often--as we saw repeatedly through videos taken in Yellowstone National Park this year-- we see people try to interact with wildlife in these situations, and it often ends very badly.