That’ll Leave a Mark: Rogue Moose Attacks Dog Walker in Alaska

It’s rare that moose attack people. It’s rarer still to catch those attacks on camera. But that’s exactly what happened last week when Alaskan Kate Timmons was driving through Anchorage with her family.

Timmons was looking out the passenger window when she saw a moose running alongside the road. She’d just pulled her phone out to record when she spotted a woman and her dog right in the animal’s path.

Timmons yelled to scare off the charging moose, but it ignored her. Instead it beelined straight for the unsuspecting woman. At the last moment, the moose reared back on its hind legs and clocked her in the head with a hoof, sending her straight to the ground. Timmons caught the whole thing on camera, and the footage is shocking.

After scaring the moose away, Timmons and her family pulled over to help. The dog walker, an Anchorage local named Tracy Hansen, was conscious but bleeding from her head. She was rushed to the hospital where she received several staples in her scalp. She was also left with headaches and heavy bruising, according to reporting from KTUU Alaska. 

Run-ins with moose—even in urban areas—are common in Alaska, though most injuries happen during automobile collisions. According to recent data, the state sees about 800 moose-related car accidents each year. Moose are known to charge pedestrians on occasion, but this usually only happens in the backcountry. Attacks typically have some kind of precipitating factor. For example, if a hiker gets between a female moose and her calf—or close enough to an adult moose that it feels threatened—the animal is more likely to charge.

If you do encounter a moose on foot, you should follow appropriate safety precautions. First make noise, just as Timmons did, and try to scare the moose. If that doesn’t work, slowly back away. If the moose charges anyway, run. 

In this case, the attack on Hansen seemed strangely unprovoked. She wasn’t doing anything to harass the moose, which is why the incident has left authorities stumped.

The good news is that Hansen is recovering well—and she’s determined to stick to her regular dog-walking routine going forward.