Three moose take a dip in a North Salt Lake pool

NORTH SALT LAKE, Utah — A wild sight in North Salt Lake this week as three moose have made themselves at home in pools and on Eaglewood Golf Course.

“It was really a rare sighting — there were three younger moose this morning, first in the water by hole 9,” said golfer Ryan Renn. “I had to take a drop and I was looking over my shoulder, making sure they didn’t charge and kill me.”

The moose showed up on the golf course Wednesday morning. General Manager Tyler Abegglen said they’ve kept their distances and golfers have kept theirs.

“The moose have been great staying away from everybody and just enjoying the weather and shade and water and what we have at the golf course,” Abegglen said.

The Utah Division of Wildlife Resources is aware of the moose and say two are adult bulls and one is an adult cow, roughly 1 to 2 years old. And aside from wandering into a back yard pool on Thursday evening, they say the moose don’t appear to be causing any major issues, so there is no need to relocate them.

These three moose know how to relax! My sister in law took this video on her walk last night in North Salt Lake. The moose have been roaming the area this week, visiting the golf course. I’ll have more on their journey coming up tonight on @KSL5TV! pic.twitter.com/kTi9Xhkrjv

— Shara Park ✨ (@KSLSharaPark) July 1, 2022

“The moose are not bothering anyone, so we’re going to leave them where they are,” said Mark Hadley, Northern Region Outreach Manager. “It should go without saying, but we encourage people to keep a good distance from the moose and enjoy viewing them.”

Several people have stopped along the edge of Glendwood Golf Course after seeing the moose from the road.

“There are tons of deer and turkeys and stuff on Bountiful Ridge, but I don’t think I’ve ever seen moose or anything like this on Eaglewood,” said Justin Walker, who was driving by and stopped to take a picture.

Abegglen welcomes the visitors but wants to remind them to keep their distance.

“We’re just asking people to stay a distance away from them and let them enjoy what they have going on and we’ll do the same,” Abegglen said.

DWR did relocate another moose from North Salt Lake earlier this week, but with higher temperatures, trying to relocate them right now adds an additional risk to the animals.

“With the heat we’re experiencing, attempting to tranquilize and move the moose could easily kill them. When a moose is tranquilized, the drugs affect the animal’s heart, its breathing and its ability to regulate its body temperature. No matter how hard we try to keep their body temperature down by dumping ice on them, the animals could easily die,” Hadley said.

North Salt Lake and Eaglewood Golf Course expect around 10,000 people to attend Liberty Fest this weekend. With a firework show planned for Saturday, Abegglen hopes the moose will have decided to move further into the foothills before then.

“We have a car show this evening. We’re just reminding people to stay on the car show side,” he said.