Idaho Fish and Game crews successfully sedated, captured, transported and released a yearling cow moose from Nampa to the Sagehen Reservoir area on July 23.
Nampa Police Department received reports of a moose wandering in the north side of Nampa in the early morning, and Fish and Game officials were later notified it was bedded down in a residential backyard north of Interstate 84 near Cherry Lane and 11th Avenue.
A Fish and Game crew responded, and with assistance from Nampa Police Department, the team was able to safely dart the moose while it was laying down. The moose then rose and wandered about 400 yards to a vacant area before the sedation took effect, at which time the crew was able to load the moose onto a trailer and haul it to the release site.
Fish and Game Conservation Officer Charlie Justus said the department has received reports several weeks prior of a moose wandering in the area along the lower Payette River and also got reports of one in the Middleton and Star areas, which he assumes was likely the same moose.
Moose are common in Central Idaho and occasionally wander as far south as the Treasure Valley. Justus noted about 10 years ago, another moose took a similar route and ended up in a cornfield near Nampa, where it was also sedated, transported and released.