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Mad moose are continuing to put the fear of nature into mountainbikers in Anchorage's Kincaid Park. At least four people have beenkicked or stepped on by aggressive moose in recent days, and manymore have been threatened. Well-known Alaska rider Darcy Davis said she was happy she was theone who got stomped Tuesday and not the 12-year-old behind her.Davis had just led a group of cyclists out from a crowded parkinglot not far from Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport ontosome new single-track trails to watch a bike race. "I was under the naive impression that I hadn't heard of anyonehaving trouble for a while, so it was OK," she said. "We were notriding real fast, just cruising along. We came around a corner, andthis cow moose with baby in tow came charging at me." Davis had just enough time jump off her bike to duck and cover. Rider trampled "It was remarkably quick," she said. "Like, holy crap. I survivedthis, and it was over .. and my bike is OK." The moose basically trampled the woman as the riders behind herscattered to give it room to flee. "My arms got kicked,' Davissaid a couple days later. "I'm sore, but I'm feeling better. I'mpretty lucky." A moose sent cyclist Carla Smith to the hospital on May 26. But forthe helmet she was wearing, she believes she might be dead. "During my attack," she reported, "I was on my right side in thefetal position and was able to curl up enough to protect my vitalorgans. Getting my head beat pretty good made me think I was donefor, but the bike helmet saved my life ... my injuries included ahematoma on the back of my left thigh the size of a cantelope(still healing almost two weeks later), along with a 3-inch deepcontusion a little lower that needed to be stapled. "We were thinking she must have had a branch on her hoof thatstabbed my leg, or perhaps a sharp hoof. My legs are bruised up anddown from her stomping me and my bike helmet is cracked and dentedin," Smith reported. All of this despites Smith's efforts to escape after a chance,close-range encounter with a cow and calf: "I got off the bike andlunged into/under a spruce tree since it was the only securityaround besides under my bike. (But) she stomped the crap out of me,my head, my shoulder, my legs. My friend was riding behind me andwas finally able to yell at her enough so she would leave me." Once mad moose get pumped up on adrenaline, they don't much seem tocare if you are trying to get out of the way or not. Cyclist Bruce Ross tells a story similar to that of Smith. He, too, tried to get outof the way only to have a moose do a two-step on him repeatedly. Hewas sore for days. Most riders are aware of how dangerous moose canbe. They have stomped two people to death in recent years inAnchorage. "We were thinking we'd be safe," said Darcy's husband, Mark. "Therewere a ton of people out there" for the bike race. Many peoplethought that might encourage the moose, usually human-fearingcreatures, to retreat to quiet corners of the park and hide. But itobviously didn't work out that way. Sometimes it doesn't. Anchorage touts itself as home to The Big Wild Life, but sometimesit can be a little too wild. Darcy is not the first member of theDavis family to suffer an ugly encounter with a large, wild animalin town. Her daughter, Petra, nearly died after being mauled by a grizzly bear during a bike race four years ago. Petra, then 15, eventually got back on the bike and is now racingagain. The moose stomping of her mother did, however, leave her alittle rattled. "I guess, to be honest, it was harder on Petra than Marcy," Marksaid. Marcy said the Davises are now thinking about avoidingKincaid for a while. Mama moose fearless "There were moose encounters all over the park (Tuesday)," shesaid. "I think they're just super agitated now. And often you can'tride Kincaid without encountering a moose. There's a ton of mooseout there." Jessy Coltrane, area wildlife biologist for the Alaska Departmentof Fish and Game, said most of the moose attacking people have beenprotective cows with calves. Mama Moose are known to be as fearlessas Mama Grizzlies, and sometimes even more cantankerous. But theyaren't the only moose that have been known to get aggressive withpeople. Bull moose are notoriously aggressive during the fallbreeding season called the rut. Young moose newly shooed off bytheir mothers can be testy, too. And any moose having a bad day ora bad week can potentially turn dangerous. One regular rider at Kincaid Wednesday logged onto the website MTBR.com to report witnessing problems with "an aggressive young male moosefor the last several days. I observed a couple of ladies trailrunning on the ski trail that parallels Good Greeff get stalked bythis young male and then charged on Friday 6/1." Good Greeff is a new section of narrow, single-track trail namedfor the volunteer who oversaw its construction, Ryan Greeff. Therehas been some speculation that moose in the area are agitatedbecause, after decades of adapting to life in the quiet spacesbetween winter trails busy with cross-country skiers, they are nowfinding their space invaded by fast-moving mountain bikers. Thesingle-track bike trails built last summer were designed tominimize conflicts with the ski trails, but they have generatedproblems of their own. Everyone is hopeful those problems will start to fade as moosecalves grow bigger and can more easily follow their mothers out ofthe way of mountain bike traffic. Despite the aggressive incidentsof late, most moose would rather flee than fight. It is much thesame for bears. Slow down, ride cautiously Coltrane said it might just be a good idea for mountain bikers toslow down and be extra careful for a few more weeks, or ride thenow snow-free Nordic ski trails. Those trails are wider, straighterand have better sight lines to allow people to spot moose.Singletrack trails are narrow, twisty and just about ideal for asurprise encounter between wildlife and a fast-moving mountain bikerider. Smith echoes those comments. She advises against riding thesingletrack with its bad sightlines until the moose calves arebigger, riding with friends, and maybe carrying some bear spray todrive a moose away if it attacks someone. Wildlife biologists saythe spray works as well on moose as on bears. Josh Durand of the Anchorage Parks and Recreation Department,himself a mountain biker, posted warnings to Kincaid single-trackriders Wednesday night. "I think I might even have seen (the problem moose)," he saidThursday. "There's definitely more than one moose out there, butmost complaints that I heard were about one cow with a calf. Itseems localized to the Toilet Bowl area." Toilet Bowl is a sculpted and banked trail that flows downhill. Agood rider can swirl down it almost as smoothly as water goes downthe toilet. Such riding, unfortunately, might not be such a goodidea at the moment. "I think a lot of this (problem) has to do with the speed of themountain bikers and how fast they can come up on things," Durandsaid. They have now been warned, he added. "The signs talk about aggressive moose in the area. I put them upat all entrances to the single track," he said. The signs advisemountain bikers to ride defensively and stay alert. Whether thewarnings will help remains to be seen. The new single-track trailsare so beautifully designed for mountain biking they all but begpeople to go as fast as they can. Contact Craig Medred at craig(at)alaskadispatch.com. I am an expert from stabilizerlinkbar.com, while we provides the quality product, such as Shock Absorber for Cars Manufacturer , China Automobile Ball Joint, Shock Absorber for Cars,and more.
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