The text messages started between neighbors in Idaho Springs on Sunday, video clips of a young Bull Moose wandering through town near the Clear Creek Metropolitan Recreation District center.
“Cool” most locals said about the opportunity to see a moose in town.
Residents kept their distance and so did “Charlie The Moose” as dubbed by an Idaho Springs Police public opinion poll.
Charlie was spotted later in the day in the Field House apartment complex under construction at the former Golddigger football stadium.
Then the brazen moose wandered again, finding a snack with the leaves of a couple of Aspen trees in the 1000 block of Idaho Street.
At that point ISP and Clear Creek Sheriff Deputies’ patrol vehicles were on-scene blaring their emergency sirens in an attempt to corral Charlie and coax him out of town.
According to police Charlie was cooperative as he made his way up the mountain toward the Edgar Mine.
Problem solved, right?
Nope.
On Monday, now June 16 Charlie was once again discovered sleeping in the front yard of a home on Colorado Blvd.
Idaho Springs Police Officer Brittany Morrow on-scene told the Courant, “Definitely a first, you know I’ve been up here for six, almost seven years, and that is probably the most random call I’ve ever received.”
Then again on Tuesday, the moose was again spotted in the backyard of a home in the 1000 block of Colorado Blvd, sleeping in a shady spot.
An opportunity, Idaho Springs Police Chief Nate Buseck said.
“We weren’t on any main roadways, we were in an alleyway the moose had moved to a couple backyards and found a nice shady spot to hunker down.”
This time local law enforcement brought in the experts with the Colorado Department of Parks and Wildlife. The CPW officers were armed with a tranquilizer dart rifle.
“Since this was the third instance of the same moose, CPW determined it was safest to use a tranquilizer dart to get it back to its habitat,” Idaho Springs Police Chief Nate Buseck said.
One shot from a tranq dart did its job and in just a few moments Charlie was out.
Several men and women with emergency services picked up the moose in a canvas stretcher and gently placed Charlie in an awaiting trailer for his ultimate trip up the mountain to be released in an “undisclosed location”.
ISP followed with a Facebook post:
“Final Update: Charlie has been safely relocated, and we’re happy to report he made a bee-line straight to the water, finally quenching the thirst he’d been searching for all along.”
According to several veteran officers, mountain law enforcement men and women serve in a unique mountain environment where the unexpected must always be expected.
“It’s really kind-of a mixed bag of calls you get up here, I’ve responded to countless bear calls where we’re trying to chase bears up hills. I’ve launched bean-bag rounds at a mountain lion. So, there’s definitely a uniqueness to what you experience working up here,” Morrow said.