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Wild houseguest shows up in Spokane

Moose falls through windows, ends up in bedroom

By Rich Landers | The Spokesman-review • Published January 13, 2009

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A north Spokane couple who are expecting a baby got an early arrival last week when a moose calf dropped into a bedroom through a basement window.

Tony and Desirae Mantese reported the moose-entry incident to the Washington Fish and Wildlife Department about 4:30 p.m., last Thursday from their home on Stevens Street just north of Francis Avenue.

The moose, which had jumped a fence to nibble on a tree in their yard, fell into a deep window well. As it struggled to get out and rejoin its mother and sibling, it kicked through the window and fell into the house.

"I got the call around 6 p.m. that there was a moose in somebody's basement," said Woody Myers, a Fish and Wildlife biologist trained to tranquilize big animals. "I said, 'You're kidding,' and the officer quite sternly said, 'No, I'm not.' "

Myers, a 32-year veteran with the wildlife agency, is the region's go-to man for tranquilizing moose and other big animals. He said this was a first.

In this case, the moose was confined to the bedroom and took its medicine without a struggle.

"It just flinched (when the dart was shot into its rump) and walked around for a few minutes before lying down," Myers said. "It went very smoothly.

"Five of us used a tarp to take the calf up a narrow stairway. It weighs about 375 pounds, but there wasn't really room there for a 375-pound moose and four men, so we just had to heave-and-ho a foot at a time.

"Then we had to take it through the kitchen and load it into a pickup."

The moose was trucked away, but the work wasn't over.

"There was quite a mess in the bedroom," Myers said, noting that the moose had relieved itself liberally. "I felt sorry for the family. They had done a nice job of finishing the room."

Homeowner Tony Mantese said the window and carpet would have to be replaced. "But otherwise we got by pretty lucky," he said.

The calf was taken to veterinarian Luther McConnell's wildlife rehabilitation quarters off the Newport Highway and kept overnight.

"I didn't think it would survive in these winter conditions if we just took it out and released it that night," Myers said.

On Friday morning, agency officers tracked down and tranquilized the calf's free-roaming mother and sibling, reunited them with the calf and trucked them to a spot near Mount Spokane for release.

It was just the latest of the region's weird wildlife encounters.

• On Jan. 6, six wild elk perished after they had taken refuge from deep snow and a storm under an old hay storage barn that collapsed under the weight of snow.

• A moose that fell through the ice at Priest Lake was rescued by a group of residents sliding boats onto the ice, dropping a rope around its neck and hauling it out. Deer have been reported breaking through the ice at Lake Coeur d'Alene.

• The number of moose, deer and elk being killed in collisions on railways and roads appears to be soaring, area wildlife biologists say.

"Tough winters will force wildlife into places where we don't normally see them," said Chip Corsi, manager of the Idaho Fish and Game Department's Panhandle region.