A video of a moose slipping and sliding past children at a bus stop in Maine is going viral nearly two years after a teenager recorded the bizarre scene as she waited to go to school.
The video, shot on rural Oakwoods Road in North Berwick, shows a moose running down the road toward Emily and Jeremy Fenderson. The animal was apparently spooked by a Jeep in the distance. As the moose clomps past the camera, it appears to slip on the road, then prances in front of the students for a moment before the video ends.
Emily Fenderson, now 17, was a sophomore at Noble High School when the video was shot. She posted the video on Facebook at the time, then again this week when the social media website reminded her of the memory.
Scott DeFelice, manager of Elmwood Resort Hotel in Wells, posted the video on the resort’s Facebook page Monday morning after he saw other locals sharing it. By Tuesday, it had been shared more than 4,400 times and had nearly 200,000 views.
“Once I posted it on our Facebook page, it just went crazy,” DeFelice said. “I was flabbergasted.”
Emily Fenderson said she grew up hunting with her dad, but the bus stop encounter was the first time she had seen a moose up close.
“All of a sudden it was trotting down the road. At first I thought it was a horse,” she said. “It was kind of scary because it was within 5 feet of us.”
Once the moose turned toward the Fendersons, its hair was raised and it looked like it might charge. A neighbor quickly pulled his Jeep between the moose and the kids, which their mother, Jennifer Fenderson, said she believes prevented the moose from charging.
Some of the more than 200 comments on the video were critical of the reaction of the people at the bus stop. In the video, one girl exclaims “Oh my God” and “I’ve never been this close to a moose” as the moose approaches her.
DeFelice said he was disappointed that people would criticize children for their reaction to the bizarre situation.
“We don’t see moose all that often,” he said. “I might have done the same thing they do.”
Jennifer Fenderson said the moose has continued to hang out in their rural neighborhood, but so far there haven’t been any more up-close encounters.
“You never know what you’re going to see at the bus stop in North Berwick,” she said.
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