Calf staying put

COEUR d’ALENE — Moose routinely visit Martin Lane each winter. They help themselves to leaves and twigs, hunker down in a backyard for a spell, and meander until heading back to where they belong.

But one calf isn't following protocol.

It's been hanging about since early February. Eating, sleeping, wandering. Staying.

"She probably feels really safe. She’s safer than she would be out in the woods," said Amber Talley on Wednesday afternoon. "There’s no predators here."

Talley said the young moose is well mannered and she has given her the name of "Missy the Moose." She's not aggressive. Keeps her distance. Minds her own business and hangs around the backyards just off Lunceford Lane.

"She's very nice," Talley said.

But too nice and too comfortable in a town and around people isn't what the Idaho Department of Fish and Game wants to see in a calf.

TJ Ross, regional communications manager, Panhandle Region, IDFG, said they have been monitoring the moose and have received many phone calls about it.

"We are very aware of it and have been for weeks," he said.

Ross said at one point, a cow and calf were spotted in the same area. It appears the calf may have been left behind and it's unknown what became of the cow.

While IDFG is concerned the calf has been in town for this long, it has no plans to relocate it. 

"More times than not, they're going to wander off on their own," he said.

Ross said it has shown no signs of aggression, which would be a primary reason to take action.

Ross said IDFG prefers to let moose make their own way back to the wilderness. Trying to relocate it would require using tranquilizer darts, which involves risks to both the moose and the Fish and Game officers.

"That's why our approach is hands off," Ross said. "It's an unpredictable situation."

He said they will continue to monitor the situation but as long as it is not a threat to the public, they will leave it alone.

Fish and Game has not relocated a moose this winter.

"The longer they stay, the more likely there could be a problem," Ross said. "If it gets to a point we have to take action, we will."

He said there were reports people were feeding the moose, which is discouraged.

"They don't want to leave and when they don't get those food rewards, they get frustrated," Ross said. 

Talley said she didn't see a cow with the calf.

"There’s never been any other moose. Just that one," she said. "So she probably lost her mom."

Talley said moose come into the area each year, stick around a few days, then return to the woods. 

"It happens. It’s not a rare thing," she said.

This particular calf leaves Martin Lane for a few days, but then returns. As far as Talley knows, no one has been feeding it.

The neighborhood is looking out for the calf and takes care not to get close to it or disturb it.

"We hope she can find her way home and maybe she can become a mom some day," Talley said.

Another Martin Lane area resident, Ellyn Bachman, said her concern is that Lunceford Lane has a lot of traffic and the calf could be struck by a vehicle.

"That's a busy intersection," she said. "I don't want to anyone to get hurt."