What's a moose to do when it's nearly zero and tempting green vegetation beckons it from a lobby? Wander in, of course.
That was the scene at a medical office building at Alaska Regional Hospital in Anchorage last week, when the single-digit weather caused automatic doors to stick and let the creature saunter in for a few minutes.
It's not a first for the hospital, since Anchorage is home to about 1,500 of the antlered beasts, according to the Anchorage Convention & Visitors Bureau. “It is very common for moose to be seen walking through the campus and around town. We had another visit in 2005 when a moose walked through the automatic doors to our ER triage window,” said hospital spokeswoman Kjerstin Lastufka.
“This moose was very calm during her visit. We think she was walking down the sidewalk and noticed the decorative greenery in our lobby, and simply walked through the open doors. She grazed a bit until people noticed her in the lobby and a small crowd gathered. Then she simply walked out and our security team closed the door after her,” Lastufka said.
What is it about Bullwinkle and medical facilities? Outliers told you about a German moose in 2014 who rambled into a Siemens building in Dresden. And in 2012 another Anchorage hospital, Providence Alaska Medical Center, had a moose meandering around its parking garage for a few days.