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Sun

Volume 7, Number 34 | October 1, 2015

Better get used to it By Lynn Burton Sopris Sun Staff Writer

M

oose are used to humans, and seem to come and go as they please these days, so we’d better get used to them. A police officer ran a bull moose out of downtown and into Carbondale Nature Park on Sept. 22. The animal left the park and returned the next day. Residents are accustomed to watching deer, bear, coyotes and the occasional mountain lion cruise, creep, sneak, prance or run through town, but moose sightings have been a rare occurrence. Until now. Since the state reintroduced about 90 moose to the Grand Mesa (60 miles southwest of Carbondale) in 2004 and 2005, those numbers have grown to 400-500, said Colorado Parks and Wildlife District Wildlife Officer John Groves. In years past, isolated moose sightings in the Roaring Fork and Crystal River valleys were often chalked up to those that wandered down from the Grand Mesa. Now, Grand Valley moose are “pioneering out” and becoming full-time residents of the Roaring Fork and Crystal River valleys, plus the Maroon Bells area outside Aspen and in the Sunlight Ski Resort area south of Glenwood Springs (about seven miles west of Carbondale). Groves has been seeing more and more moose in the past six to eight years, and has sighted them as close to Carbondale as two miles up the Crystal River, and up Thompson Creek and Coal Basin west of town. He estimates the Roaring Fork and Crystal Valley populations at about 40-50. “As the population expands, we’ll be seeing more,” he told The Sopris Sun. On Tuesday, a pair of bull moose twice crossed Highway 82 near the Pitkin County Airport, causing the sheriff’s department to close the road for a short time. It’s believed the moose that closed Highway 82 are the same ones that have been making themselves at home in yards at the nearby North 40 sub-division. Other moose have been sighted this summer up the Frying Pan and in the Catherine Store area upvalley from Carbondale. Moose, especially males, move around quite a bit, especially during breeding season, which starts in mid- to late September and can last through October. Groves said the bull moose seen inside the Carbondale town limits on Sept. 22 and Sept. 23 was probably in rut. Moose are large, and can reach six-feet at the shoulder and weigh 1,200 pounds, have no natural local predators, are adaptable, and aren’t afraid of anything. “Give them plenty of space (when encountered),” Groves advised Moose don’t like dogs. If they chase an off-leash dog, it’s likely the pooch will return to its owner, who then stands a chance of getting run over and trampled when the moose arrives. Moose might let hikers closely approach it, but then charge with no warning. Wildlife officials have relocated two moose in the past two years when they posed a problem in populated areas: one near Thunder River Market and one in El Jebel. As for opening a hunting season to control the local moose population, Groves said Colorado Parks and Wildlife might issue one bull license in 2016. “It will be a minimal harvest.”

When was the last time you saw a wild wolf inside the Carbondale town limits? Never, which is one reason moose are making their way into town in increasing numbers. Without any natural predators, the local moose population is growing. This one was spotted in Carbondale Nature Park (aka the Delaney dog park) on Sept. 23. Wildlife officials advise folks not to approach moose. Give moose plenty of room and keep dogs away as well. Photo by Greg Watts

FALL FIRST FRIDAY! NON-PROFIT VOLUNTEER FAIR: 4th Street Plaza from 5pm - 7pm

Friday, October 2 in the Heart of Carbondale’s Creative District

2ND ANNUAL L.I.T. CRAWL: Carbondale Branch Library @ 4pm


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