Quick Take
- A Chihuahua charging a moose sounds heroic, but wildlife officials say it could have gone very differently. See the Chihuahua's risky move →
- Moose look slow and lumbering, but their top speed might change how fast you'd try to run from one. Find out moose top speed →
- Running from a charging moose is the right move, though only if you do one specific thing first. Get expert escape advice →
- The man in the video made one smart split-second decision that wildlife experts would actually approve of. Can you guess what it was? Watch the smart decision →
Wild animals can experience and respond to stress, fear, threats, and other emotional or affective states, but figuring out exactly what an animal is feeling from a short video is another matter. In this clip, a moose in a snowy residential neighborhood suddenly charges toward a man standing near his driveway. Whether the animal felt threatened, stressed, or simply wanted more space is impossible to know from the footage alone. What happens next is even more unexpected, as the man’s tiny dog rushes directly into the encounter.
Moose Charges Toward a Man
The short YouTube clip at the top of this post shows a moose walking through a snow-covered residential neighborhood before turning toward a man near his driveway. The exact location is not identified in the footage provided here. Moose live across northern North America and Eurasia, including Alaska, Canada, parts of the northern United States, Scandinavia, and Russia. The Pepper Loves Animals YouTube page shared the dramatic encounter.
Tiny Dog Rushes Into the Encounter
At the beginning of the video, the man walks outside into a neighborhood covered in deep snow. A tiny dog follows close behind, bounding through the snow as the pair make their way toward the end of the driveway.
That is when the man spots a large moose across the street. Moments later, the animal runs toward him. Despite their enormous size, moose are surprisingly fast and can reach speeds of about 35 miles per hour. The man quickly moves away and puts parked vehicles between himself and the approaching animal.
Then his Chihuahua rushes toward the moose, barking and darting around it. The little dog appears to distract the much larger animal long enough for the man to keep his distance. It makes for dramatic video, but this is definitely not behavior pet owners should encourage. Wildlife officials warn that dogs can agitate moose and sometimes cause them to charge, potentially putting both the dog and its owner in danger.
What Should You Do If a Moose Charges?
Moose are herbivores that eat grass and twigs.
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Few wildlife encounters are more intimidating than a moose running in your direction. Moose (Alces alces) are the largest members of the deer family. Alaska’s largest bulls can weigh around 1,600 pounds and stand more than seven feet tall at the shoulder. Moose are not normally aggressive toward people, but they can charge when they feel stressed, threatened, cornered, or harassed. Cows can be especially defensive around calves, while bulls can become more aggressive during the fall breeding season.
Many moose charges are warnings rather than full attacks, but the Alaska Department of Fish and Game says you should never wait around to find out whether a charging moose is bluffing. Unlike a bear encounter, running from a moose is recommended. Get away from the animal and put something solid, such as a tree, vehicle, or building, between you and the moose. If a moose knocks you down, curl into a ball, protect your head, and remain still until the animal moves a safe distance away.
The man in this video makes one particularly good move by using the parked vehicles as barriers while getting away from the moose. His tiny dog certainly looks fearless, but wildlife officials would prefer pets stay well away from moose altogether. In this case, everyone appears to make it out of the encounter safely, which is the part that matters most.
