Alaskan Dogsled Team Faces Nearly an Hour of Horror After Run-in Moose in Woods
Every year, sled dogs and their owners train hard to cross over 900 miles of brutal terrain and endure the cold conditions they’ll face in the Iditarod. There are hazards everywhere, in training and in competition …
Every year, sled dogs and their owners train hard to cross over 900 miles of brutal terrain and endure the cold conditions they’ll face in the Iditarod.
There are hazards everywhere, in training and in competition. Musher Bridgett Watkins of Kennel on a Hill and her friend Jen were training for the race recently in Salcha, Alaska, when they had a heart-stopping run-in with the one animal no one wants to cross.
“This has been the most horrific past 24 hours of my life,” Watkins’ post from Feb. 4 began. “I am overwhelmed with the outpouring of support and love sent our way. I would love to share all the details with everyone but I simple don’t have the emotional bandwidth left in me at the moment.
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“In short; we were attacked by a very large healthy bull moose on a 52mile run. As he charged me I emptied my gun into him and he never stopped — I ran for my life and prayed I was fast enough to not be killed in that moment.
“He trampled the team and then turned for us and charged us humans who sought refuge beside our machine. He stopped a mere 2 feet in front of our snow machine.”
Watkins shared that she was able to cut six of the dogs off their lines, but the moose went back to the others and “trampled them over and over; repeatedly, for nearly an hour.”
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