Community Corner

Moose on the Loose! Have You Seen It in Farmington?

Tell us in the comments and please let us know if you got a picture!

By West Hartford Patch Editor Ronni Newton

It has been several days since anyone has seen a moose in West Hartford, and the elusive animal, which refused to hold still long enough for a photograph, may have traveled to the Farmington/Avon area.

Farmington Patch reader Sharon Lee Hartman Morris posted on our Facebook page that she spotted a moose this morning, though it's not confirmed that it's the same one.

"Moose was in my yard at 6:30 am this morning (Basswood Rd) Our 20 lb Bichon Frise frightened it!" she wrote. "Moose ran toward Tasker's neighborhood/ power lines."

Andrew LaBonte, a wildlife biologist with the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection, is responsible for tracking the moose population in the state. 

Wednesday morning one was spotted in Avon at approximately 7:15 a.m. "As far as I know, it's probably the same moose," LaBonte said. A moose will usually travel between 5-10 miles per day, and once it starts heading in a certain direction it usually keeps going that way unless it "runs into something," he said.

In the past week LaBonte said there have also been reported moose sightings in Simsbury, Canton, Farmington, near St. Francis Hospital in Hartford, and in West Hartford.

LaBonte believes there are anywhere from 100 to 150 moose in Connecticut, and this is the time of year when people are most likely to see them. In Connecticut the best chance of seeing one is in the Hartland area, near the MDC reservoir, he said. The animal seen in the West Hartford area could have come from Massachusetts, said LaBonte.

"Typically moose are pretty solitary, except during the time of year when the offspring are dispersing, or when they are mating," LaBonte said. At this time of year, the moose that were born last year are leaving their mothers and heading off on their own, he said.

West Hartford resident Bepsie Perry, who saw the moose on Aslylum Ave. near Bugbee School on Friday night, thought it was a female because it did not have antlers. LaBonte said it could still be a male. None of the reports have indicated that the moose has antlers, he said, "but they would be very tiny and hard to see at this time of the year."

Based on the pattern of sightings, the moose seems to have spent last weekend in the West Hartford/Hartford area.

It reappeared on Monday evening. West Hartford resident Kaitlyn Considine commented, "My son heard it first making clip-clop sounds like a horse and then spotted moose last night May 13 approximately 9 p.m. on Middlebrook at Penn Drive heading east."    

Town Manager Ron Van Winkle said his wife saw it Monday night, too, but it was too dark to get a photo.

A short time later, the moose was spotted near the intersection of Park Rd. and Trout Brook and the West Hartford Police were called into action.

"Police did a really good job diverting the moose, keeping it from crossing over I-84," LaBonte said. They thought they had it corralled in a nearby yard, but it jumped a fence and kept on going and the next reported sighting was likely the one Wednesday morning in Avon.

LaBonte said a young moose, about 1 1/2 or 2 years old, could weigh about 600 pounds. Some full grown moose can weigh more than 1,000 pounds, he said.

Neither the DEEP nor any other organization will capture and relocate a moose. "The only time we'd get involved is if it gets contained somewhere or it's dangerous," LaBonte said. 

The DEEP does track the animals, however, and LaBonte urges anyone to report a sighting on their website.

Please let Farmington Patch know too! If you see a moose and can get a photo, email it to Jessie.Sawyer@patch.com, post it on the Farmington Patch Facebook page or send it through Twitter (@FarmingtonPatch).


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