Woman Gets a Little too Close to Moose, Almost Gets Mauled [VIDEO]

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Here’s yet another example of what I like to call the “Bullwinkle Effect.” Moose look harmless, and have largely been presented as big, slow dullards in movies and TV, so most people aren’t as scared of them as they should be.

Like, for example, the lady in today’s video.

The incident, which was recorded in Breckenridge, Colorado last week, has left people asking what the heck this woman was doing.

As you can see (and hear) in the video, pretty much everybody around her is telling her to move away and calling her an idiot.

See for yourself:

The woman pats the moose on the butt, which definitely gets its attention. The moose turns around to face her, and when she doesn’t back down, it lifts its front legs to swat at her. Thankfully, it seems like it wasn’t interested in a real confrontation or it would’ve crushed her without issue.

But…here’s the thing. If you look closely, you’ll see an elderly woman carrying a bag of groceries. The moose is headed right for her, and she’s clearly spooked. She tries to climb over the snow bank, but it’s clear she’s not going to make it in time.

So it’s entirely possible that this reckless woman pats the moose on the butt to try and distract it from elderly woman.

There’s no way to tell.

And although what she does is very stupid, we’re going to give her the benefit of the doubt and assume she was trying to help out an old lady.

That said, local law enforcement gave her a citation for harrassing wildlife, so maybe I’m wrong. But I don’t like assuming the worst about people.

Either way, stay away from moose. They’re way more dangerous than bears, as odd as that sounds.