No Selfies With Moose At Wascana Lake

Bathing Beauty

REGINA (The Camping Canuck) – A moose decided it was a good day to take a mid-morning bath today in Wascana Lake in the Regina, Canada.

It swam for close to an hour in the man-made lake near Willow Island before lounging in the shallow area for some sun. A spokesman from the Ministry of Environment stated that the moose was still in the water as late as 1 p.m. CST.

According to News Talk 980, Maeve McKinnon with the Wascana Racing Canoe Club was one of several people who spotted it as early as 8 a.m.

“I arrived at the club and heard some of the other coaches talking about it and looked out and saw the head of a moose swimming out in our course in the middle of Wascana Lake,” she said.

Officials from the Wascana Centre Authority, along with conservation officers, are keeping an eye on the situation and warning people to keep their distance to avoid any unnecessary contact with the roaming moose. Pictures and videos of the moose in action have gone viral on the internet and all over social media sites. Safety officials have reiterated the fact that moose are easily agitated, but the moose will not be shot unless it goes into attack mode. Even at that stage, it would only be shot with a tranquilizer gun and relocated back to its natural habitat.

It is not uncommon for moose to wander into public areas, although it is rare that they proceed to swim when passersby are so obviously near. No incidents between the general public and the moose have been reported.

Moose Can Be Dangerous

Moose are generally timid but can occasionally attack when agitated (e.g. in Prince George, B.C., in 2007 and 2009). The real threat from moose, however, is when they cross a highway, posing a risk to motorists. When a car travelling 100 km/h hits a 700-kilogram male moose, the resulting crash can easily be fatal for the driver, if not the animal. This summer, a 48-year-old motorcyclist died in a moose crash in New Brunswick, while last January, Newfoundland and Labrador residents filed a class-action lawsuit against their provincial government, alleging its failure to control the moose population is to blame for the more than 700 moose-vehicle accidents reported there annually.