Montana Outdoors Magazine
Death By Feeding
When Mary Franzel saw a cow moose lying directly outside her window last winter, her first thought was, “It’s really weird that the mom decided to take a snooze against the house.”
The moose and her large male calf had been hanging around Franzel’s home in Clark Fork, Idaho, for a few days, resisting all efforts to shoo them away. Franzel assumed they were looking for a handout. Many of her neighbors feed deer, a practice strongly discouraged by Idaho Fish and Game, but mostly legal in that state. Other than not being afraid of her, Franzel says, the cow and calf in her driveway appeared normal. “You see some moose that are shedding and look kind of grayish. But these had beautiful coats, and they had good weight.”