Moose on the Loose Invades Alaska Hospital Waiting Room
posted by RJ Johnson - @rickerthewriter - Jan 8, 2019
Walk-ins might be welcome at this Anchorage, Alaska physical therapy clinic, but the staff there probably weren't expecting this.
A moose wandered into the offices of Wise Physical Therapy and munching on some of the fresh greens located in the lobby.
Hospital spokesperson Kjerstin Lastufka said the moose on the loose managed to gain entry to the clinic around 11:30 a.m. on Monday thanks to an automatic door that got stuck open because of the cold temperatures. Temperatures in the area were hovering around zero degrees when they recorded the video.
"She was just going about her business, having a morning snack," Stephanie Hupton, who works in Regional, told KTUU.
When Stephanie Hupton heard a patient mention that security was monitoring the clinic's over-sized visitor, she dashed out to record video of the wild animal before it left. The footage shows the moose browsing some greenery near the entrance before leaving through an open door.
The moose reportedly grazed on the waiting room's shrubbery for about ten minutes before leaving on its own accord.
"Didn't think we'd have a pet moose," Hupton told the Associated Press.
Hupton said the moose - which appeared to be pregnant - bumped its nose on its way out of the hospital and was seen hanging out in the parking lot Monday afternoon. The wild animal didn't cause any ruckus or any big problems other than snacking on the waiting room greenery.
Mooses are the largest and heaviest species in the Deer family and distinguished by broad, open-handed antlers on males. Unlike other other deer species, mooses are do not form herds and are generally solitary animals. Moose can become aggressive and move quickly if provoked, but the visitor to Wise Physical Therapy was pretty chill, witnesses say.
"It was a pretty calm visit," Lastufka said.