This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2011, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
Apparently, moose bluff. Once.
Not twice.
Avid hiker Matt Mellenthin learned that Sunday during an afternoon hike up Mill Creek Canyon. As he made his way down the Mount Aire Trail, Mellethin came across a bull moose with a female in a clearing. He slowly started to back away when the bull moose charged him.
As quickly as it came at him, the moose stopped.
"In hindsight, I realized I should have taken off then," he said.
Instead, Mellenthin stayed at the edge of the clearing and watched the wild animals as they began grazing. Slowly, he pulled out his smart phone hoping to snap a few pictures or maybe get a video. Just as his phone was recording, the bull moose charged, only this time it wasn't slowing down.
"Next thing you know, this moose is darting right at me," Mellenthin said.
"I was totally unprepared for that," he added. "He'd already bluffed and circled around."
He stumbled to a tree, trying to climb up, but the moose was already there stomping its hooves into his lower back. Mellenthin managed to get away only when the moose stopped to avoid getting caught in the tree and turned away from him.
"I gained my senses and realized I was functional," he said. "Then I took off."
Immediately he began running down the trail away from the bull moose. Mellenthin said he made it down Mount Aire with just a few bruises and a better appreciation for wildlife .
Mellenthin said he had no plans to go up Mill Creek Canyon anytime soon
gbarker@sltrib.com