Love-sick Moose wanders onto campus

MARQUETTE, Mich. - A moose that wandered onto the Northern Michigan University campus and broke a dormitory window might have been looking for love in all the wrong places, a wildlife expert said.

City police chased the animal away after the Tuesday evening incursion at Magers Hall, Detective Capt. Mike Angeli said. It was unclear whether the moose got inside the building.

"It's not unusual for a moose to do something like this now," said Dean Beyer, a Michigan Department of Natural Resources wildlife biologist who has an office at Northern Michigan. "We're in the middle of the (mating) rut right about now.

"Moose, especially a young bull moose, will move long distances," he said. "They could be searching for a cow to mate with, or simply be a young bull dispersing after being chased away from its herd and looking for a new home range."

A yearling bull generally weighs 500 to 600 pounds, but any wild animal should be avoided, Beyer told The Mining Journal.

"They're more aggressive this time of year," he said. "It's always best to keep your distance."