Staff Writer
LITTLETON — A picture speaks a thousand words and when one Littleton resident recovered a dead moose in their yard, the story began to unfold.
Game Warden Joshua Smith was called to investigate an illegal shooting of a moose on Jan. 29.
Game Warden Bill Lindsay also worked on the investigation and he said a man was charged and subsequently confessed to the shooting, however, he noted how “unique” the case was because of where the moose was found.
“Typically, when somebody shoots at wildlife, it doesn’t come out of the woods and die on the neighbor’s lawn,” remarked Lindsay. “A moose was speaking from the grave and wanted the violator to get caught.”
Lindsay said the moose died of its wounds 24 hours after being shot. He said the animal had a hand in finding its shooter because the person responsible for the killing lived across the street from where the moose died. Investigators backtracked to where the moose was shot and after recovering the bullet from the animal, were able to execute a search warrant.
“The individual was witnessed shooting his .22 and then the same witness observed the moose coming out of the back of the woods,” explained Lindsay. “When the moose turned up dead the next day on the neighbor’s lawn, the witness spoke up and said they recalled seeing him shoot at it.”
The fine for shooting a moose out of season is $1,000 and three days in jail. Lindsay said that because the suspect was a convicted felon, he would have to appear in Superior Court.
“He was cooperative, admitted to shooting the moose and was sorry he’d done it,” said Lindsay.
