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Moose caught in power lines, hangs 50 feet in air
A bull moose was suspended 50 feet in the air after its antlers became tangled in a power line under construction southeast of Fairbanks. The incident happened on October 5 on the Pogo Mine Road. The moose apparently became tangled in electrical wires while the line, under construction to the Teck Pogo gold mine about 80 miles southeast of Fairbanks, was close to the ground. Workers noticed something wrong after tightening the line, and backtracked to find the moose hanging by its antlers. | "Hummm, I don't recall that being there before." |
The moose was alive when it was lowered to the ground, but Department of Fish and Game officials decided to kill it rather than tranquilize it before removing the wires. Officials say they were worried the stressed moose would die and the drugged meat would not be salvageable. | Lunch is now being served. |
"The only unfortunate part is we had to shoot the moose," said Gabriel Marian, president of City Electric Inc., the contractor erecting the power line to the mine. "It would be more of a feel-good story if we had let it down and it ran off." | "But this is Alaska, winter is coming and my freezer is empty." |
The moose may have weighed as much as 1,200 pounds. Dave Davenport, a technician for the Alaska Department of Fish and Game in Delta Junction, said he is trying recover the antlers. | This would be the Alaskan version of a car swarm. |
"My guess is he was in full rut and probably seen that line moving out there," and decided to fight, said Marvin Pickens, line construction manager for City Electric in Anchorage. | Horny, ready to jump anything that moved, sounds like my years in Alaska. |
Crews can lay up to five miles of line at a time before tightening it with a giant hydraulic winch, said Pickens. The line is pulled through leaders on the crossties at the top of the power poles and then winched tight with as much as 5,000 pounds of pressure, he said. "As you're pulling, it constantly droops up and down," said Pickens. "My guess is that he was right in the middle of one of the sections when it got pulled up." The moose was likely suspended in the air for only a matter of minutes before workers investigated and found it, Marian said. It was tangled in static, the half-inch cable that is strung up next to the power lines to serve as a lightning rod, said Pickens. | Moose fishing, next on Fox. |
Posted by: Steve 2004-10-22 |
