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Moose Gets Marooned on Androscoggin Island

July 08, 2009 - BRUNSWICK -- From his fourth-floor office in Brunswick's Fort Andross, Bruce Kidman has seen eagles, cormorants and even a few hawks "taking down some pigeons" – but he had never seen a creature like the one that appeared when he came to work Tuesday.

Trapped on an island just below the hydroelectric dam between Topsham and Brunswick was a moose.

Co-workers in the Nature Conservancy office suite where Kidman works lined the windows, wondering how the moose could have made it to the small island, which has some vegetation on it.

The body of land is cut off from the Topsham shoreline by the frothy, pounding waters of the Androscoggin River, reportedly 2 feet above normal because of heavy rain.

"We were all speculating on how it got there. It must have come over the dam," Kidman said.

Brunswick police said that, before 7 on Tuesday morning, the department's communications center was swamped with calls from people reporting there was a moose in the river.

As the day wore on, more and more people lined the riverbank and the pedestrian walkway on the Frank Wood Bridge, which connects Topsham to Brunswick.

Game wardens were called in to assess the moose's health and its predicament and decided that the best course of action is to wait. They said the moose does not appear to be injured.

There is enough vegetation on the island to keep the moose fed, wardens said. Trying to tranquilize the animal and move it off the island might prove fatal to the moose until water levels go down.

"I'd bet that at one point, there were more than a hundred people watching the moose," said Doug Kulis, a state game warden from Georgetown.

Operators of the dam estimate it could take another four to six days before the water recedes to the point where the moose could swim safely to shore.

Kulis said the moose appears to be about 18 months old, which means its mother likely abandoned it. Immature moose tend to wander, often seeking interaction with humans, Kulis said.

"They don't know what to do with themselves at such a young age," he said.

Matt Anderson, who serves as night manager of the Frontier Cafe, where the dining room overlooks the river and the island, said the moose was the talk of the restaurant. Many customers snapped photographs, he said.

"It's still out there," Anderson said as daylight started to fade. "It seems fairly ensconced and content."

By DENNIS HOEY, Staff Writer, Portland Press Herald, July 8, 2009


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