Drunk Moose – Sane or Stupid Law?
Allegedly, a city law exists in Fairbanks, Alaska that states that it is illegal to feed alcoholic beverages to a moose. That law is pretty reasonable. After all, moose are big, and wild, and strong. While they are not normally aggressive, it is possible to provoke them into charging, which would be a really bad thing. Odds are, if you fed one a shot of tequila or a nip of single malt scotch whiskey, you’d be dealing with one provoked moose.
While the full text of this law is not readily available, there are plenty of stories out there about drunk moose incidents. These incidents, however, are not spawned by a human feeding booze to a moose. Rather, fruit falls of a tree, ferments, and the moose eats the fruit. Moose becomes drunk. Calamity (not hilarity) ensues.
One story floating around out there takes place in Stockholm, Sweden, rather than in Alaska. A momma moose and a baby moose ate some fermented apples out of an elderly couple’s yard. They staggered around the yard and frightened the people who lived in the house. The police came and scared away the drunk moose and her calf. Everyone relaxed. Bad idea, because the drunk moose and baby drunk moose come back for more apples, because Gee, those were good. A neighboring hunter released his dog, and scared away drunk moose et al again. The homeowners made sure to pick up all the yummy apples so that there would be no temptation forthe apple-seeking moose again.
Similar stories are pretty common in areas where moose are indigenous. People report that drunk moose are a lot like drunk people. Some get terribly aggressive and scary, some get overly friendly, and some just vomit all over the place. Nice.
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