Waterbury moose doesn’t survive encounter with vehicle

August 14, 2021  |  By Tulley Hescock

A young bull moose seen along Rt. 100 in Waterbury Center in June, thought to be a moose recently injured and euthanized by game wardens. Photo by Buddy Milligan

There appears to have been a tragic turn of events for a young bull moose who attracted much public attention earlier this summer along Route 100 in Waterbury Center.

On July 14, Vermont Fish & Wildlife Game Wardens Ethan Coffey and Dustin Snyder were called to Bittersweet Lane where a bull moose was sitting off the side of the road. The short dead-end street lies on the west side of Route 100 just south of the Waterbury-Stowe Fish and Game Club in an area known as a busy wildlife corridor. 

Based on the location, size and age of the moose, the game wardens on the scene concluded it was the same moose sighted multiple times in recent weeks, on several occasions leading to traffic snarls as motorists stopped to get a glimpse and take photos.  

“We got [the moose] to stand up and move off a little bit but all we could tell at first was that it was limping. It fell over once on its own, and we weren't sure why, but when it turned around, it had its right rear leg snapped off above the ankle,” Coffey said. 

The leg had a compound fracture, Coffey explained, leaving the bone exposed and making it nearly impossible for the moose to move. Based on the location of the break, it was likely it had a collision with a motor vehicle, he said. 

Judging from the condition of the wound, Coffey said it had not just occurred. “It didn't happen that day. And no one that I'm aware of called to report that they hit it,” Coffey said. 

The game wardens determined that if left alone, the animal would certainly not survive. “At that point, there's not much else that we can do, and we decided right then that we were gonna have to put it down,” Coffey said. In these situations, game wardens use a firearm to euthanize an injured animal. 

The wardens called on a local wrecker service to help transport the moose out of the woods and into a truck to bring it to a local resident who requested to harvest the moose for meat. Coffey said whenever a large animal such as a deer or moose is hit, they try to not let the meat go to waste. 

The wardens took steps necessary so that the harvester could legally possess the animal and to document the incident . “We always have to pull a tooth from the moose - we give it to the biologists [to determine] their age and stuff,” Coffey said. 

Moose sightings and sometimes collisions with motor vehicles are fairly common. “It happens every year, sometimes more than others, but certainly not as much as it used to,” Coffey said. 

Community News Service is a collaboration with the University of Vermont’s Reporting & Documentary Storytelling program.