BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — A Bismarck man escaped serious injury after he struck a moose with his truck.
Steve Fleckenstein, 50, was heading home from work at the Falkirk Mine around 6:30 p.m. Tuesday (Dec. 27, 2022) when he hit the bull moose on U.S. Highway 83 between Baldwin and Wilton, the Bismarck Tribune reported Thursday.
Burleigh County Sheriff’s Maj. Jim Hulm said the animal was a “smaller bull moose” but it still caused major damage to Fleckenstein’s 2013 Chevrolet pickup. The vehicle had to be towed to a body shop.
“It took me and the (responding) deputy all we had to get (the moose) off the shoulder and into the ditch,” Fleckenstein said.
The sheriff’s department can issue a tag that allows a person to harvest an animal killed in a vehicle crash. If the driver or no one nearby wants the carcass, deputies will call around to find a taker, Hulm said. In this instance a deputy ended up claiming the moose.
It’s unclear how often moose-vehicle collisions occur in North Dakota. Crashes with wildlife don’t have to be reported unless the vehicle is disabled or someone is killed or hurt, according to state transportation officials.
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