Moose and calf show up outside day care, and captivated kids get real-life nature lesson
Youngins at a day care in Wyoming got the unique opportunity to learn about wildlife right from their classroom window when a mama moose and her calf showed up outside.
Rainey Turner, who runs Little Honey’s Daycare in Thayne, about 40 miles southwest of Jackson, shared a photo of her young students captivated by the moose outside.
“Just moosin’ around,” Turner said in the Feb. 20 Facebook post. “We have had some neighborhood moose all winter long. The kids finally got a close up of them today as they ate the trees in our driveway. Such a fun opportunity to learn about them with a real life exhibit! Got to love Wyoming.”
The moose started showing up in January and into February, but her day care kids always seemed to just miss them before the moose would wander off again, she told McClatchy News in an interview.
Then last week, she noticed them right outside and corralled the kiddos to the couch beneath the window before the moose could scurry off again.
Not a reindeer
“They were so excited!” she said. “A few of my kids were shouting that they were reindeer!”
Turner gently corrected the kids and turned the chance encounter into an opportunity to teach them about moose.
“We observed them eating the trees so I got to explain to my kids what they eat, and how they eat to make it through the harsh Wyoming winters,” she said.
The moose had hopped the fence into the neighbor’s yard, who called Wyoming Fish and Game after they were aggressive toward the dogs next door, Turner said.
Once wildlife officials showed up, the moose hopped over the fence again and bedded down in the day care’s backyard trees, so they watched through the day care’s garage and back window as officials relocated them.
“It was a really neat experience for the children,” she said. “We talked all about how important the job of the Game and Fish is and how they ensure animals and humans can live together peacefully. I had an older child concerned about the safety of the moose and was able to explain in depth the procedure of tranquilizing them (giving them a shot of medicine) and ensuring that they would wake up once moved to safety.”
Moose get a ‘new home’
The class watched wildlife officials load them into a trailer, and shortly after the wildlife biologist sent the class photos so Turner could show the kids “the moose were doing amazing at their new home.”
“With moose visiting the elementary school and the potential for people to surprise them while they were bedded down, it just became a human safety issue and that’s when we do take action,” Gary Fralick, the South Jackson wildlife biologist, told Cowboy State Daily.
The moose likely turned up in a more populated area because of the season’s deep snow, and it’s easier for wildlife to move around plowed roads, the outlet reported.
“There’s just nowhere for the moose to go,” Fralick told the outlet.
The kids’ new moose friends were still front of mind the next day, so they spent their crafting hour drawing pictures of moose, complete with tiny hand prints for moose antlers. They ate moose-shaped snacks and ran around pretending to be moose, according to Turner.
“The kids had a blast,” she said. “I’m very thankful for the knowledge of the Game and Fish and how respectful they were in moving them and getting them to safety. It was amazing to watch and even more amazing to have my kiddos be apart of it as well!”
Earlier this month, Utah Department of Wildlife Resources relocated a moose that was hanging around an elementary school playground, KSL 5 TV reported.
Last week, a moose “claimed” the front door and a tree in front of the Evanston Ranger District in Wyoming. Officials urged people to call instead, since the moose hangs “around the building all day.”
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