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Here's how to get an upset moose out of a basement

A moose on the loose in a residential basement gives fish and game officers a hard time, but it's no match for their animal expertise.

Amanda Kooser
Freelance writer Amanda C. Kooser covers gadgets and tech news with a twist for CNET. When not wallowing in weird gear and iPad apps for cats, she can be found tinkering with her 1956 DeSoto.
Amanda Kooser
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This moose is sacked out.

Idaho Fish and Game

OK, so there's a moose in your basement. Don't panic and don't aggravate it. It's already upset enough. Call the Idaho Department of Fish and Game and let its experts come handle it.

The department detailed a fascinating rescue story on Sunday after a cow moose fell through a window well and into the basement of a home in Hailey, Idaho.

Senior Conservation Officer Alex Head tried to herd the moose up the stairs and out to freedom with the help of local police officers. "The moose was having none of it, charging the officers several times," the department notes.

Finally, in the wee hours of the morning, the team called for some narcotics and sedated the moose before carrying it out of the house in a sling. Here's the happy ending: "It woke up in the snow-covered street, groggy and confused, but free." Think of this as a very different kind of "Free Willy."

The kicker here is this isn't the first time Head has been called in to deal with a large wild mammal in a basement. Last winter, he worked on a case involving a cow elk that fell through a window well into a different basement. That elk was also safely removed without injury.

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