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Rare Sighting: Moose Spotted In Area

Social media is abuzz with comments from Northern Westchester residents who've reported seeing a moose that has been making the rounds in the area.

This moose made the rounds in Northern Westchester in late June and July, 2016.

This moose made the rounds in Northern Westchester in late June and July, 2016.

Photo Credit: Brian Sweig
Putnam County resident Brian Sweig said the moose on the loose spent several hours at his home in Patterson in the summer of 2016.

Putnam County resident Brian Sweig said the moose on the loose spent several hours at his home in Patterson in the summer of 2016.

Photo Credit: Contributed
This moose was spotted in Ossining this time of year in 2016.

This moose was spotted in Ossining this time of year in 2016.

Photo Credit: Joanna Peck

It was last spotted on Thursday, June 28 near the Teatown Lake Reservation Nature Preserve and Education Center, which is located in the towns of Yorktown, Cortlandt and New Castle.

On Facebook, posters reported seeing the moose on Cedar Lane in Ossining and Croton-on-Hudson. One even noted that she saw a neighbor using a drone to try and track down the animal.

“This morning at about 9:20, there was a moose standing on Cedar Lane between (a local) home and Cedar Lane Park,” one Ossining resident wrote on Thursday. “It watched as my car came to a stop for it. It then left the roadway and walked in the direction of the Indian Brook Reservoir.

In 2016, a moose had to be put down in Cortlandt after being struck by a car. The 7-foot tall animal - which weighed nearly 1,000 pounds - made the rounds in Northern Westchester, with sightings in Bedford, Millwood and Ossining before it was struck.

According to the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, the moose is the largest member of the deer family, and the largest land mammal in New York State. 

Bulls weigh from 600 to 1,200 pounds and stand up to 6 feet tall at the shoulder. Cows weigh from 500 to 800 pounds. Both sexes have long, grayish-white legs, dark brown or black bodies, and a dangling flap of skin under the throat called a bell.

Moose first entered the state in the 1980s, after being absent for 120 years, though they are a relatively rare sighting in the Hudson Valley, with most of the animal’s population residing in the Adirondack Region, as well as Washington, Rensselaer and Columbia counties.

Anyone who spots a moose has been asked by the NYSDEC to submit a moose sighting report form.

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