Only in Alaska -- Flying Moose

This is one of those only-in-Alaska stories that happens to be true.

Back in October of 2004, a trophy-sized bull moose was accidentally entangled in a power line under construction by City Electric Inc. The power lines went to the Teck Pogo gold mine about 80 miles southeast of of Fairbanks. The moose apparently got its antlers tangled in electrical wire before workers farther down the line pulled the line tight. The moose was suspended 50 feet in the air when workers, recognizing something was wrong, backtracked and found it. (click on pictures to see larger versions).

The moose was alive when it was lowered to the ground but was later killed when officials from the Alaska Department of Fish and Game decided against tranquilizing it to remove the wires because they were worried the moose, already stressed, would die and the meat would not be salvageable as a result of tranquilizer drugs. The moose, which weighed about 1,200 pounds, reportedly had an 62-inch antler spread

The theory is that the moose came across the sagging and swaying wires and, fueled by testosterone during rut, decided to challenge the power line to a fight and got entangled. Workers didn't know the moose was tangled until they tightened the line up with a hydraulic winch. Because the line is tensioned in five mile segments, and the moose got entangled near the middle, no one was actually there to see the moose get winched up into the air. The moose was actually tangled in the static line, a half-inch cable strung next to the power lines to serve as a lightning rod.

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