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Park City police contacted about aggressive moose on trail, wayward cows

Animal temporarily blocked person from retrieving bicycle south of Old Town

The Park City Police Department earlier in September received an unusual report involving a bicyclist on a trail and a moose that was described as aggressive.

The police received the report at 8:19 p.m. on Sept. 22 from someone on the Empire Link trail, which is south of Old Town. The police were told a moose was blocking the man from retrieving the bicycle. Public police logs indicated the bicycle was surrounded by the moose “and every time he tries to get closer to the bike the moose start to make a lot of noise and get aggressive.”

The person was eventually able to retrieve the bicycle and leave. The Police Department did not have information about the person.



The land south of Old Town, including Empire Canyon, provides habitat for wildlife like moose and deer. There are regular moose sightings in the terrain surrounding Old Town such as Empire Canyon, and the animals are also seen occasionally in the neighborhood.

It is uncommon, though, for the police to receive a report involving circumstances like those on Sept. 22.



The Police Department receives wildlife reports throughout the year, with there sometimes being an increase in the fall as animals begin to move toward lower elevations. The case involving the aggressive moose was one in a series of wildlife cases reported to the police recently. Other cases included:

• on Friday, Sept. 24 at 7:36 a.m., a driver hit a deer along Holiday Ranch Loop Road, close to a bus stop. The animal was alive at the time of the report but it could not stand up without struggling, the police were told.

• on Wednesday, Sept. 22 at 8:21 p.m., a deer was seen on Kearns Boulevard, on a shoulder of the road. It was not clear from public police logs whether the deer was a live animal or a carcass.

• on Tuesday, Sept. 21 at 8:08 p.m., a driver hit a deer on Park Avenue. The police were told the person was not sure where the deer went after the accident. Nobody in the vehicle was injured, but there was unspecified damage.

• on Sept. 21 at 6:18 a.m., a driver hit a deer on Richardson Flat Road, causing unspecified damage to the vehicle. The vehicle was drivable afterward, the police were told. The person was not sure where the deer went.

The Police Department, meanwhile, also received at least two reports involving wayward cows in the area of the City Hall-owned McPolin Farm. The police on Friday, Sept. 24 at 6:11 p.m., were told of a cow that was seen outside a fence, apparently on the same side of the fence as the barn, the police were told. Two days earlier, on Wednesday, Sept. 22 at 1:19 p.m., the police received a complaint that a cow was loose and was headed toward the barn on the land.

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