Who Would Steal a 200-Pound Swing Set? A Clumsy Moose

At first, Dean and Mary Tanner could not imagine who would want to steal their daughter’s 200-pound swing set. But the angry culprit, a 2-year-old moose, was lurking nearby.

The animal stumbled into the 10-foot-high swing set on Wednesday, hooking its antlers around a chain and dragging the set through the family’s neighborhood.

Dogs barked wildly about 3 a.m. as the moose made a clamor with the swing set in tow. The Tanners did not investigate, and only discovered that it was missing later that morning.

“I couldn’t figure out what happened,” Tanner said. “I was just kind of looking out in the yard. I was real mad. Who would take someone’s swing set?”

State wildlife officials said the moose got tangled in the swing set after it veered from a trail. As it tried to free itself, it ended up dragging the set around the neighborhood and across a road.

Tired and angry, the moose later returned to the Tanner home and was found resting alongside the house, still connected to the apparatus.

“He wasn’t in a good mood,” Tanner said. “There were points when he charged us. He was huffing and puffing and stomping around.”

Wildlife officers arrived and tried to release the moose with wire cutters. When that failed, they shot it with a tranquilizer and gingerly removed the swings. The moose’s antlers were scraped and bleeding slightly.

“He did an excellent job snaring himself,” said Ken Pitcher, a state biologist. “When I got real close to him, he got real aggravated. He started thrashing around. I was afraid he’d break his neck.”

Afterward, the moose got up and walked into the woods.

Tanner put the swing set back in its place. He said his 3-year-old daughter, Camile, was more worried about the moose.

Pitcher said he thinks the moose will be fine. “I don’t think he knew enough to be grateful.”

In late summer and fall, mate-seeking bulls often get cantankerous and pick battles with bushes and fences. Sometimes they get themselves wrapped up in Christmas lights, Pitcher said.

But he said he had never heard of a moose having a run-in with a swing set: “This is really unusual.”