Amazing Drone Footage Captures the Moment a Bull Moose Shed its Antlers in Canada
Rebecca West
According to wildlife photographers and those who spend a lot of time in the woods, catching a moose in the process of shedding its antlers almost never happens, and it's even rarer to catch it on film. Well, for the second time in roughly a month, a moose has been captured on video doing just that. This time, the incredible sight was taken by a drone deep in a forest in New Brunswick, Canada.
Controlled by woods operations supervisor Derek Burgoyne, he told CBC News, "Never in my wildest dreams would [I] ever imagine catching this on film. This is winning the lottery when it comes to wildlife photography for sure."
North American Wildlife
Burgoyne was said to be surveying a patch of hardwood trees while working his job when he maneuvered a drone through the dense trees in eastern Canada. That's when he spotted three moose standing in the snow. He followed one of the creatures that still had both of its antlers and started to record. The massive animal then gave itself a good, strong, full-body shake to rid its back of the snow accumulating there when his antlers parted way with the rest of him. The rack, once recovered, reportedly measures 45 inches across!
Moose Tracks
"As I'm hovering over this one, I zoom my camera down and just happen to click record," Burgoyne added. "What they'll often do after being bedded in the snow is they'll shake their body to rid themselves of the snow and water. As he shook himself, I was recording, and you seen what happened."
Bull moose shed their antlers each winter and grow new ones during the spring and summer months. The sheddings, while seldom seen, are left behind for nature lovers and hunters to find during warmer months. They are highly prized by both groups.
Alaska Moose
Recently, Alaska resident Tyra Bogert captured the same event on her family's Ring Doorbell camera without even trying. Visiting her sister, she got a Ring alert while watching TikTok videos and tapped on the app to see what it was notifying her about. The video was taken at night, unlike Burgoyne's much clearer daytime drone footage, but the animals in both videos make a hasty retreat after their antlers come flying off and hit the ground, making some noise in the process.
Wildlife Photography
As drones and trail cams become more popular, more of these videos should be finding their way to the internet. You can watch the video of this most recent event below.
https://youtu.be/ZEowycaGv9k
