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City folks might go camping to get closer to nature and wildlife in Saskatchewan, but this week a young bull moose appears to be camping out at Wascana Lake in Regina.
He was first spotted by people in the canoe club on Monday morning and the moose was still on the loose Tuesday, believed to be hiding out on one of the islands. The wild visitor to Wascana was almost becoming an attraction in his own right as word spread on social media Monday afternoon, but conservation officers warn that it is dangerous to get close to a moose.
On Tuesday the Saskatchewan Environment Ministry explained conservation officers were monitoring the situation but reports suggested the moose was still out and about. On Monday a conservation officer explained that if the moose comes to the main land during the day they will try to tranquilize him and take him to a safe location outside the city, but for now they can’t risk doing it while he’s in the water or on the island.
“Yeah, I saw him this morning, he looked like he did yesterday, swimming around and healthy,” said Lauren Thies on Tuesday afternoon.
She works at the rental booth for kayaks and canoes at the marina where people were still talking about the wild visitor.
“I had a couple people that came down and asked where the moose was because they wanted to head out on a kayak to go see him, but I had to make sure they knew how dangerous moose actually are and that they can be quite aggressive,” Thies explained.
Nalia Sanchuck was definitely heeding that warning when she went on a canoe ride with her mom. She admitted she was nervous about getting hurt if they wound up in the wrong place at the wrong time. She was definitely surprised to hear that a wild moose is hanging out in the middle of the city.
“Yes, because usually they’d be around at the countryside or at a farm or someplace, but they just wander into the city and it’s strange,” she said.
Other people at the marina were also startled to hear the moose stuck around overnight.
“I didn’t expect to see it yesterday and I was even more surprised it was back today,” commented Mia Overton.
The recent sightings suggest the moose may be staying more on the south east side of the lake.
“We didn’t anticipate he was going to hang around for so long but he seems pretty content in the lake, so we’ll see,” Overton said, adding that the wild guest makes a day at the lake a bit more exciting.
