SPIRIT LAKE, Idaho — It’s not every day you see a moose with what looks like a collar around its neck, but that’s exactly what people in Kootenai County have spotted over the last several months.
Now, we may have a better idea about how the moose mysteriously ended up with the unwanted ‘accessory.’
"Your moose with the ring around it was on the news!” Carla heard from a friend.
Carla, who lives in Spirit Lake, recognized the moose she saw on KREM and knew exactly how it got stuck because it happened on her property.
Last May, Carla spotted this moose trying to get inside a barrel to get a drink of water. It’s not uncommon, she has multiple storm water barrels on her property and a pond that wildlife frequently visit.
Unfortunately, standing water also attracts mosquitoes, so Carla installed mosquito nets over them and sealed them with a screw-on lid.
"When she drank out of that barrel I thought ‘oh my gosh,’ I've got that mosquito netting on there and that one would down right in,” Carla explained.
She carefully went around and removed the netting but left the lid on, but one of the barrels was damaged and didn’t lock in.
"I came running up here, and sure enough, I looked all over hoping that the ring was on the ground somewhere and it was gone and I knew then that she was my moose,” Carla said.
KREM 2 reached out to Idaho Fish and Game, they said they are aware of this moose, but they said there's not much they can do. It appears healthy and trying to remove it could do more harm.
"I feel really bad about it, it's not something I wanted to happen, but there's not a lot I can do about it,” Carla said.
Moose are frequent visitors on Carla's property and to her they've become like family. She wants people to know she never intended to harm the moose and hopes everyone will keep an eye on this one the next time it’s spotted.
"I just thought I'd let people know what the answer is and why she has a ring around her neck,” Carla said.