STERLING — If the activity on social media is any indicator, locals are absolutely enamored with the female moose that has been wandering around town for the last several weeks.
“For some reason, I’ve always been fascinated by Moose with a slight obsession to see one,” town resident Sheana Hensley posted last month on the Sterling MA Community Page, along with some photos and a video of her. “Today a dream came true for me and I can’t really put into words how excited and grateful I am for this moment!”
The first official moose sighting post in the active community page was made by a woman on Sept. 15 at 7:11 a.m. She shared three photos of the moose in her back yard on Tanglewood Road and wrote: “Making its way around this part of town this week!”
Later that same morning, animal activist Jodi Lynne Sylvester posted a gorgeous shot of the moose and called her “The Shining Star in Sterling.”
“Beyond excited and overwhelmed with emotion,” the Lancaster resident penned in her post. “A dream come true for me as a wildlife photographer and animal lover.”
Two days prior, WCVB Channel 5 Boston posted a video of the moose walking across a road in front of a white car and captioned it “WOAH! A moose casually strolled across a road in Sterling yesterday! It’s about the same size as the car it paid zero attention to!”
The female moose, or cow, has been spotted in various places in Sterling, including the areas of Redemption Rock Trail, Wilder Road and more. Town resident Sean Kyle posted photos of her resting in his Beaman Road back yard, and when Sylvester commented that she hoped the moose didn’t cross the road and was “worried about a collision,” he replied that the moose had started walking down his driveway but turned around when she saw people stopped on the road.
“She … came back into the yard. Walked around eating leaves and is now laying (sic) down in the backyard,” Kyle wrote. People voiced concern when later in the month the moose was spotted closer to busy roads and even towards Interstate 190, and someone asked if the state Department of Conservation and Recreation ever relocates animals if they are in danger. Massachusetts Division of Fisheries and Wildlife (MassWildlife) Central District Supervisor Todd Olanyk said DCR does not do that.
“That comes under the purview of MassWildlife and the Environmental Police, who have a cross-agency team trained to evaluate these situations and take appropriate action, if any,” he said. “My understanding is that the moose in question was not relocated but moved out of the proximity of the roadways on its own before anyone from MassWildlife or the EPOs were contacted or responded.”
Olanyk said that in most cases, animals should just be left alone.
“The appropriate action is to keep people away from the area, and usually the animal finds its way back to a better location,” he said. “This time of year, it can be more common to sight moose, as they are at the tail end of their breeding season and tend to be moving around on the landscape more than usual.”
The female moose and a horse were seen strolling side by side together on Osgood Road. One man posted photos of the two, and Joey Finn shared video of them and labeled them “best buds.”
“So would the baby be a hoose or a morse,” one woman quipped about the unlikely pair.
A bull moose has also been seen in town, and some suggest he is wooing the female moose, as it is indeed mating season. Longtime town resident Josh Pineo posted in the community page reminding people that seeing a moose around town is “nothing new” and that “moose have been roaming Sterling longer than we know!”
He shared a post the Sterling Police Department made in September 2017 that began with “Moose hunting is illegal in Massachusetts.”
“We are warning residents that recently there have been several moose sightings in our area from Worcester to Lancaster. And though we are not giving out the area in which this handsome guy was seen, he was in Sterling several days ago,” the post went on to state. “Please use care/caution if you come across Bullwinkle with out his Rocky (boy did I just age myself there). These animals may appear docile, but will react if they feel challenged.”
Some have suggested naming the moose, and ideas include Sally and Minnie. But, despite the connection they feel to the female moose, it appears that people are simply happy to observe Sterling’s mascot and, although they are deeply fascinated by her, respectfully leave her be.
