It's been a strange story from the beginning, but now it's taken an even more tragic turn for the worse. Nearly two weeks ago reporters in Minnesota revealed that a large 7-foot-tall moose, native to the habitat of Northwoods, travelled hundreds of miles to the farmlands of Sleepy Eye, Minnesota and found a temporary new home in Verna and Leonard Wendiner's backyard.
"All of a sudden [I was in the yard], it turned around and, oh my!" Verna Wendiner, the Sleepy Eye local that found the moose, says. "Thought that it was a horse, but then I thought 'Oh, it's got antlers'."
And though Sleepy Eye is more well-known for its rich farmlands rather than the evergreen forests of Northwoods, the moose found the Wendiner farm to be a suitable home. And local wildlife experts with the Department of Natural Resources said that the young bull looked comfortable in its new niche under a giant apple tree. That is, until early last weekend when the moose wandered off into nearby woods, only to return Tuesday to his favorite hangout under likely his only food source.
"Yeah, he cleaned it up. High on the branches and everything" Leonard Wendinger says. "The branches were down [because] it was so heavy from apples that bent way down."
But then on Wednesday, locals realized that the moose's behavior had changed. After returning to the farm, the moose approached house much closer than it had ever before. So close, that the Wendinger family believed he may be their new family pet.
"It never came up that close to the house before" Verna says. "He could have come up on the porch; like one of our daughter's says, pretty soon it will be up on the porch, sleeping like a dog."
But sadly Thursday morning, Nov. 20, Leonard Wendinger found the moose shortly after he woke in the morning. And when he approached his usual spot under the tree, Leonard discovered the moose dead on his side - leaving researchers and wildlife biologists with many questions about how the young bull had come to pass.
Researchers at the Department of Natural Resources recovered the animal's body today, and while the cause of death has not yet been identified, they say it does not appear as though the moose was shot or hit by a car, further deepening the mystery around its sudden, and untimely death.
Veterinarians at the University of Minnesota's laboratory for necropsy, will conduct the examination, and expect to find a definitive answer in the upcoming weeks.
