Toddler in Colorado Trampled, Injured by Moose

GRAND COUNTY, Colo. --

A 2 ½-year-old boy was hurt after he was run over by a moose while playing on a Grand County beach with his brother.

The run-in occurred around 12:30 p.m. Thursday in the Pine Beach area of Shadow Mountain Reservoir, south of Grand Lake and off Highway 34, the Division of Wildlife said.

"The child was playing on the beach with his brother when the moose randomly ran through the area where the child was playing, striking the child," said Capt. Nowell Curran with Grand County Emergency Medical Services.

"The moose didn't appear to stop and just ran over (the toddler), and kept on running,” said Division of Wildlife spokesman Randy Hampton.

It's not clear if the moose was charging at the boy or if it was running away from something. Curran said it's likely the moose didn't see the boy and was just passing through the area. Moose have poor eyesight.

The boy's 6-year-old brother was not hurt.

The toddler was transported to Granby Medical Center and then flown to Children's Hospital.

He was released by Friday morning.

"Thank you for your concern and well wishes for our 2 ½-year-old son who had an unexpected run-in yesterday with a moose," the family said in a statement. "After a comprehensive exam and careful observation, our son was released from The Children’s Hospital in Denver. He’s doing well, and we’re happy to be back home."

The family, whose name was not released, did not blame the moose.

"We believe this was a freak accident as the female moose was likely spooked by something else in the nearby vicinity, and was fleeing that presumed threat when she encountered our sons," the family said. "Thank you, again, for your concern."

Hampton said wildlife officers failed to find any sign of the moose, following a search of the area that lasted several hours.

"We're done. There's no way to tell (which moose was responsible). The population of moose is large enough that after a few hours there's no way to determine which moose we're looking for. We never found any moose in that area at all," Hampton said.

Hampton had said earlier that if DOW officers find the moose in question, it will be put down.

Several bull moose and a cow moose with two calves have been spotted in the area in the past several weeks, prompting authorities to post signs warning beachgoers not to approach the moose, Hampton said.

He said this is breeding season, but it's the bull moose that tends to be more aggressive. However, a cow moose can be equally aggressive if she's trying to protect her calves.

The DOW said it sees one to two "moose charging" incidents every year, usually in the same area.

Four years ago -- on March 26, 2006 -- a 92-year-old man was killed by a moose in Grand Lake.

Louis Heckert, the former mayor of Grand Lake, was walking to church when he literally stumbled into the moose in town. The man's vision was not very good and he didn't see the moose, authorities said. Heckert walked directly into the moose, and it knocked the man to the ground and stomped on him. Wildlife authorities say the moose that attacked Heckert was injured and was euthanized.

The moose had serious injuries from some previous accident, which could have contributed to his behavior, officials said. The moose had five broken ribs on his right side -- one which punctured its chest cavity -- and several separated vertebrae.

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