Trail Camera Captures Extremely Rare Photo Of A Bull Moose Wandering Around In Kansas

What in the world is a moose doing in the middle of Kansas?

To be clear, moose aren’t necessarily hard to spot out in the wild. The creatures are massive, and their size can be intimidating from both near and far. Moose are the largest of all deer in the deer family, and their height and weight might surprise you. Males are typically bigger than females, with bull moose usually standing at 6 feet tall at their shoulders and weighing up to 1,400 pounds.

Another fun fact about moose? You aren’t supposed to see one in Kansas.

The wild animals generally live in the northern most parts of the United States (think Alaska, Maine or Idaho), and they’re built to survive in colder climates. So the fact that the state of Kansas is freaking out right now about a moose within their state lines is warranted. Mule and whitetail deer are very common there, some of the best deer hunting in the country actually, and elk have a very small presence in the Sunflower State. But a moose sighting in Kansas? That’s about as rare as it gets.

Laura Clawson with the Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks says that there’s not really an explanation for a moose being spotted in northern Kansas. A team of biologists is currently doing their best to figure that out actually, as she told KSNT:

“Kansas is outside the normal range for moose because our weather and environmental conditions are not well tolerated by moose. Our biologists have not made contact with the moose, and they ask that no one else does either and just observe from a distance. There is a possibility of illness, and we are just at the end of the rut for the moose populations north of us. There is potential for aggressive behavior from the moose for both of those reasons.

As always, the best way to protect wildlife is to avoid human interaction. Interfering with wildlife not only disrupts their natural behaviors but also causes significant stress, which can lead to illness or unpredictable aggression. That said, this is a rare and exciting thing to see. One of our biologists said to share that folks should enjoy the opportunity if they are in the area and see it.”

The most likely explanation is that this moose followed river corridors from Colorado and Wyoming, and somehow got it’s moose tracks (thank you very much) mixed up, and continued to walk right into Kansas. To give you an idea of how rare a moose sighting in the state is, the last confirmed case of a moose in Kansas was 2019. Before that? 1989. For those that aren’t great at quick math, that means that in the last 36 years or so, there have only ever been three moose spotted and reported in the state of Kansas.

This one being the third. A few weeks back, he was spotted up in Republic county on the state’s Northern border.

And then this week, it appears he was spotted again in Jewell County:

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So now, you can use “like a fish out of water” and “like a moose in Kansas” interchangeably. Always good to expand your vocabulary and arsenal of phrases, and it’s always a blessing to learn something everyday. If the question, “Are moose native to Kansas?” pops up at your next trivia night, now you know the answer.

P.S. – For some reason when I first saw this post, my brain immediately sang “Moose walking in Kansas” to the tune of Marc Cohn’s 1991 hit “Walking In Memphis.” Is it necessary to add that into this story? Not really. But I’m a believer in documenting the mind’s accidental creative spurts… so now you have to deal with that song being stuck in your head too.The post Trail Camera Captures Extremely Rare Photo Of A Bull Moose Wandering Around In Kansas first appeared on Whiskey Riff.