Are moose dangerous? Tracy Hansen recovers from head injuries sustained from elk attack

Tracy Hansen is recovering from injuries she sustained from a seemingly unprovoked moose attack.

While walking her dog, Gunner, last week, she encountered an elk but went past him. Soon enough, the elk charged at her from behind and kicked her quite unexpectedly.

Fortunately, Kate Timmons and her family were driving down the same road and managed to rescue the dog and Hansen herself. Moreover, she got the attack on video, which would've been impossible to believe otherwise.

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Moose are dangerous only if provoked in some way

The short version of the answer is yes. Moose can be quite dangerous. However, if afraid, their instinct is to run and avoid harm. For an animal of that stature, they are quite unaggressive.

The best way to identify an angry elk is to look out for these signs:

• Back and neck hairs standing up (similar to a cat)
• Ears going down against its head
• Snorting and stomping
• Lip licking

Although they normally aren't deadly, they can be if provoked by humans, pets or traffic. Their aggression can also be a sign of hunger or exhaustion (which usually comes through in winters when they travel through the snow). Your best bet is to stay away from the huge deer, even when it is calm.

Elk attacks are usually restricted to certain months. The mating season starts in September and October, and they are on edge. The calves come in early spring, making mothers more possessive, hence encounters and incidents spike during those months.

If you see the huge animal charging at you, your best bet is to run away and find shelter or curl up in a fetal position and cover your head. Fighting back will only anger the animal more.

Animals like camels, wolverines, and even dogs have been aggressive on some occasions. Be alert!

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Tracy Hansen's encounter with an elk led to injuries

Hansen and her dog were walking down the same road they take three times a day when she was suddenly kicked over last Thursday.

When asked to describe the incident, Hansen replied:

“I thought someone had not been paying attention and hit me with a bike or something. I had put my hands up to my head, and I’m like, ‘I’m bleeding.’”

After being knocked down, she noticed a large elk she and her pooch had bypassed a few minutes ago.

“Knowing that the moose had been somewhere behind me and now, here this moose is in front of me, and I’m like, ‘Was that the moose?’”

Kate Timmons got the incident on video and could be heard screaming, 'Watch out! Watch out!' when the elk started picking up speed.

“My husband was able to help pull her over the snow bank, so we could get her in the truck with her dog and kind of get her out of the way. It definitely seemed unprovoked from our standpoint and it happened so fast it was just like, a matter of getting her out of the situation, getting her help, making sure, you know, my big thing was that she didn’t have a head trauma, that there wasn’t a bleed or something.”

Tracy Hansen seems to have her positive attitude:

“We’ll be back on our normal walks. The moose won’t stop that.”

There have been moose attacks in the northern regions for a long time, especially when the elks start their mating period or let their stomachs do the thinking.

We pray for a quick recovery for Tracy Hansen and her optimistic spirit.