A dog sled musher says she emptied her gun into a charging bull moose with no effect, and it went on to trample several of her dogs
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/other/a-dog-sled-musher-says-she-emptied-her-gun-into-a-charging-bull-moose-with-no-effect-and-it-went-on-to-trample-several-of-her-dogs/ar-AATLXqD?ocid=msedgdhp&pc=U531
A large moose attacked a dog sled team who were on a training run in Alaska.
The dog owner said that the moose was undeterred by her emptying her gun into it.
The moose trampled the dogs for nearly an hour, leaving several seriously injured.
A large bull moose attacked a dog sled team in Alaska, trampling the dogs and seriously injuring several.
Bridgett Watkins, from Fairbanks, shared the story in a Facebook post, which she described as "the most horrific past 24 hours of my life."
Watkins said that she and her dogs were attacked by the angry moose while training them on a 52-mile run on February 3. A bull moose can weigh 1,400 pounds and stand seven feet at the shoulder.
She was training her sled dogs to run in The Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race, an annual long-distance sled dog race in early March from Anchorage to Nome.
When the moose attacked, Watkins said she emptied her gun into the animal, but it was undeterred.
"I ran for my life and prayed I was fast enough to not be killed in that moment," she said.
Watkins said that she was able to cut six of the dogs free and sought refuge behind her snow machine, from where she watched as the attack on her other dogs continued.
She said that the moose continued to trample the dogs repeatedly for nearly an hour.
"I have never felt so helpless in my life," Watkins wrote on Facebook.
Eventually, a friend arrived and killed the moose, at which point they took the dogs to be treated by a trauma team of vets at North Pole Vet.
She said several of the dogs were seriously wounded in the attack and are recovering from major injuries, including internal organ damage and broken limbs.
One of the dogs was stomped in the head and suffered severe head injuries. At least two of the other dogs underwent surgery, and another was "stapled up" by the vet, Watkins said.
A few days later, Watkins, a part-time emergency room nurse, posted an update to say that the dogs were healing well.
"With the most exceptional vet team, hours of sleepless nights, giving massages, rubbing down every sore inch of them and giving more meds than I do to my human patients in the ER-we are getting stronger," she said.
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Kennel on a Hill
about a week ago
This has been the most horrific past 24 hours of my life. I am overwhelmed with the outpouring of support and love sent our way. I would love to share all the details with everyone but I simple don’t have the emotional bandwidth left in me at the moment.
In short; we were attacked by a very large healthy bull moose on a 52mile run. As he charged me I emptied my gun into him and he never stopped, I ran for my life and prayed I was fast enough to not be killed in that moment. He trampled the team and then turned for us and charged us humans who sought refuge beside our machine. He stopped a mere 2 feet in front of our snow machine. I was able to cut 6 dogs free that were on the team connected to the machine. But unfortunately he went back to my team attached to my sled and trampled them over and over; repeatedly, for nearly a hour it continued. I have never felt so helpless in my life. He would not leave us alone and he even stood over top of the team refusing to retreat. Our friend that lives out on the river was able to finally get to us and kill the animal that dropped just beside the team.
We arrived at North Pole Vet with the most amazing trauma team of vets all waiting for us.
We have one dog still fight for his life-Flash. He was stomped in the head and has a major head injury. Bronze under went emergent surgery last night to repair internal organ damage. Bill had a rear leg broke in half and just got out of surgery to stabilize. Jefe was stapled up, wounds cleaned and soft tissue damage evaluated. . The rest of the team is home, inside and recovering. We have many bumps, bruises, cuts, puncture wounds, hoof prints and broken hearts. We are mending together and will see where this leads us in the next few days. Please pray for us all as we continue down this road.
musher advice; carry a bigger gun
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