A moose spotted traversing southern Concord on Thursday morning has been tranquilized and relocated to western New Hampshire, according to the state Fish and Game Department.
The mammal, which was seen on several city streets between 9 and 10 a.m., was eventually shooed by Fish and Game officers behind JCB Excavators and the Machine Craft Company on Hall Street where it was tranquilized, according to a press release. Once subdued, volunteers from the businesses used a forklift to place the 600-pound animal onto a U.S. Wildlife Services trailer.
“The young cow moose was transported to the western part of the state where it was released and eventually walked away,” Fish and Game officials said in a press release.
The local firefighters’ union was perhaps the first to document the antlerless creature on social media appearing under the Interstate 93 overpass on Route 3 shortly after 9 a.m.
Then, a commenter on the firefighters’ Facebook page logged its next movement by the Comfort Inn on Hall Street.
“Wow. That is a well traveled moose,” wrote Kimberley Brown Edelmann.
Morgan Workman of Bow posted a video she took of the moose from her car on Hall Street about 10 a.m. It appeared to be happily trotting south and could have made its way to Bow within minutes.
Nonetheless, officials eventually made what they described as a risky decision to tranquilize the mammal.
“Tranquilizing an animal this size has varied results,” Fish and Game officials said in the release. “The decision to tranquilize is difficult as it can often kill the animal due to the stress it endures during transport.”
The moose’s visit Thursday was the second odd wildlife sighting on city streets in two weeks, as bear sightings were reported June 8 in the South End and at Rundlett Middle School. The school canceled outdoor activities for the day due to the sighting.
(Nick Reid can be reached at 369-3325, nreid@cmonitor.com or on Twitter at @NickBReid.)