Watch Out for Large Ungulates

MoosecrossingI grew up in Alaska, so the importance of of THIS ARTICLE (from Reuters)  about not running into moose resonates with me somewhat, even though I now live in Arkansas.
I encountered moose on several occasions as a youngster, both intentionally and  un-.
Moose aren’t just big, they are huge – like a Jersey cow, but
homelier and with longer legs. I mean, you just won’t believe how
vastly, hugely, mind-bogglingly big they are
.
For instance, when the article says that moose can stand 6 feet tall, that means at the shoulder, and the truth is they can be bigger than that.
Encountering moose accidentally is always a little unnerving, and in a moving vehicle it could be especially deadly. In an airplane… well, it would be bad. Looking for a way to keep moose from wandering onto airport runways would therefore be a noble pursuit.
Now the folks in Wasilla, Alaska have installed a Moose Irritating Device that shows great promise in keeping the dumb beasts from wandering into the path of unsuspecting Cessnas.
Archie Giddings, Public Works Director for Wasilla, explained the subtleties of the mechanism;

"They’d feel a shock and they’d also hear a snap. Those two things
would cause the moose to not go in there."

Giddings also described, in refreshingly anthropocentric terms, what a moose/airplane collision would be like;

"If they ever did come to the runway and have a collision with an
aircraft, that could be disastrous to the pilot," Giddings said. "An
airplane could disintegrate if it hits a moose.".

If successful, the device could soon be seen in airports all across the northern U.S., and we will all sleep a bit better, though the moose might be more irritable.
GET THE STORY.

7 thoughts on “Watch Out for Large Ungulates”

  1. It is about time we adopt Nature’s tank as the template for future military designs. Disintegrate a plane? Now that’s power!

  2. Cool! Where did you live in Alaska, Tim? I spent several years in Fairbanks due to my father’s Army service. I am looking forward to chances to get back. It’s a great place.

  3. You’re absolutely right about BIG. I was backpacking once, eating supper at dusk one night and looked up to see a moose strolling by 25 feet away. Sauntering, actually, looking right at me. He was awesomely huge, like a Volkswagen on stilts.

  4. Bear-
    I lived in Anchorage, mostly, but the first couple of years we lived in a cabin in the bush, with a hand pump, outhouse, and the whole nine yards.
    Little House on the Tundra.

  5. A Møøse once bit my sister…
    No realli! She was Karving her initials on the møøse with the sharpened end of an interspace tøøthbrush given her by Svenge – her brother-in-law – an Oslo dentist and star of many Norwegian møvies….

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