Moose captured on camera licking Peachland vehicle clean

There’s a moose on the loose in Peachland.

Peachland resident Jack Heynsbergen said a cow moose has been hanging around his property on Renfrew Road for the past four days.

Heynsbergen has seen bears, deers and bobcats on his property over the last 25 years, but a moose in something completely new.

READ MORE: Bear sightings throughout the Central Okanagan

“The dog started barking and (she) was licking the side of my truck,” he said. “It cleaned my wife’s car off.”

He said it appeared the moose was licking the salt off of the vehicles.

As a hunter, Heynsbergen joked that he has the cow’s brother in his freezer from last year.

The moose has been spending the last few nights in a neighbour’s yard, and Heynsbergen said there haven’t been any safety concerns.

“I just walked right up to it, I’m kind of like the moose whisperer,” he said.

According to WildSafeBC, “as herbivores, moose feed upon a wide variety of vegetation including the twigs, buds and leaves of shrubs and trees, as well as terrestrial and aquatic plants. Typically an animal of true wilderness, moose may move into urban settings to feed on backyard vegetation in times of scarce natural food or winter months.”

“Attacks on humans by moose are rare, but can occur, especially when a female is protecting her offspring. Vehicle collisions are also a major safety concern associated with moose,” according to the WildSafeBC website.

Earlier this month, Conservation Officers rescued a young moose that was caught in the rungs of a bridge near Peachland.

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