Colorado Man Trampled by Moose is Surprisingly Cool About It
In Colorado, there are plenty of animals that can mess you all the way up if you aren't careful. You hear a lot about bears, wolves, and the like, but you already know what you're getting with those animals: they are probably going to eat you if you stumble upon one. There aren't too many surprises when it comes to actual predators acting, well, predatory.
Even more dangerous are the animals that you wouldn't expect to start chewing on your face as a matter of course. You wouldn't expect a lot of unearned violence against humans from a moose, for instance. That is unless you happen upon a mother moose and her babies. If you find yourself in that scenario, then you may want to start getting as many of your affairs in order as you can from the wilderness.
A man in Coal Creek narrowly avoided having to make such arrangements, after being trampled by a mama moose while walking his two dogs. The trio surprised the moose and her calf while walking on a trail near the man's home, despite having been able to avoid the animal family successfully in the past.
Before the man could react, the mama moose was already on him, stomping him to the ground and leaving multiple minor injuries and what witnesses described as a "hoof-print" on the man's chest. Luckily, he was able to fire his gun into the ground a couple of times to scare the animal off, preventing further damage to his general personage. None of the animals were injured in the encounter.
The man, 58-year-old Rob Standerwick, seems to hold no ill will toward the animal. In fact, he actually seems like he's letting go, telling KDVR in Denver that the moose, "...was just doing her job as a mom." That's level of understanding that you wouldn't usually expect from someone who has just been repeatedly stepped on, so Mr. Standerwick is obviously more forgiving than most of us would be.
According to Colorado Parks and Wildlife, the best course of action to take if you come across a moose in the wild is to give it a wide berth and leave the area. If a moose charges you, run away quickly (naturally), and put obstacles between you and the moose, such as large rocks and trees. Like Chumbawumba, if you get knocked down you need to get back up again as quickly as you can and inform wildlife officials of the incident ASAP.