Moose plummets 150 feet onto highway

GIRDWOOD, Alaska, Feb. 12 (UPI) -- An Alaska state trooper says a moose fell about 150 feet from a cliff towering over a highway and nearly struck his car when it landed.

Trooper Howard Peterson said he was driving Feb. 2 on Seward Highway, a few miles north of McHugh Creek, when he saw a large, black object fall from the sky in front of him, the Anchorage Daily News reported Tuesday.

He said he initially thought it was a boulder, but recognized it as an adult moose after he went in for a closer look.

"How would you say it -- moose-icide? He probably thought he was the only moose, with all those sheep around," Peterson said.

However, state wildlife biologist Rick Sinnott said moose suicide is an unlikely explanation.

"I'm sure the moose didn't jump," Sinnott said. "They occasionally have bad days like the rest of us. They slip and fall. Maybe he was reaching for a branch and the snow just gave way."