People traveling through Humboldt County, Sunday, may have gotten a look at an animal that is rarely seen in the Silver State, when a young bull moose was spotted just off Highway 95. The Nevada Department of Wildlife says it probably came down from Idaho, following some kind of water source, like a stream or creek.
Ken Theiss was on his way back to Reno, from a hunting trip near Orovada, when he saw the young bull moose.
"You kinda gotta do a double-take, when you see something like that," Theiss said. "It's like 'Oh, you didn't see that.' We actually flipped a u-turn and went back and took some pictures."
He saw the moose about ten miles south of the Denio Junction, where Highways 95 and 140 meet.
"He was about 70 or 80 yards off the side of the highway, just standing there," Theiss said. "There were a couple of other vehicles stopped, taking pictures as well.
Pretty strange seeing them out in the middle of the desert, nowhere."
Nevada has herds of deer and elk throughout the state, but moose don't normally come down into the Silver State. This moose is about 18 months old and trying to find its way in the wild.
"They're told to get out by their birth mother," Chris Healy, NDOW spokesman said. "Then the other bull moose don't want them around because they're competition for the females. So, it's these young animals."
This is not the first time a moose has wandered into Nevada. Last May, two of them were photographed in the Jarbidge wilderness, in Elko County.
"Usually we see a lone moose, like what we're dealing with up in Humboldt County," Healy said. "But in this case, it was a bull moose with a female, and that of course, is the combination you need to make little moose."
Healy says Nevada will probably never be the home of a large moose population. They will stick to their greener, wetter habitat.
"In Nevada, it is a rarity and it will continue to be a rarity because we just don't have the kind of habitat that moose need to survive and thrive," Healy said.
Healy says if you do come across a moose, keep your distance because they can be very aggressive. Also, since there isn't a moose population here, you can't get a hunting license for them. Shooting a moose is against the law.
