Would a moose scrape at a house and why?

by Angela Hart
(Ophir, Colorado)

Last night I woke in the middle of the night by my dog barking like crazy. Something was making a lot of noise outside and scraping against my cabin.

I assumed it was a bear and there are bears here. I flipped the porch light on and off and the dog made lots of noise. It eventually went away but returned again a while later.

It was scraping at the base of the cabin door as if trying to get in.

Again it seemed to quiet or leave and returned again. It was tall whatever it was as the porch light would get partially covered at times blocking the light.

In the morning I was stumped.

The wide cabin door is old plywood stained a dark brown. The stain was completely scraped off the door several inches up from the threshold. The rest of the door had places where the stain was scraped off even up six or eight feet.

The cabin exterior walls alongside the door has the same thing.

There were no nail marks though as from a bear paw. We live near Ophir Colorado and both bear and a lone moose are on the property.

Would a moose do this and why?



Very intriguing Angela.

You question reminded me of a story I read a recently entitled "The Moose that Knocked at the Door"
Written by Sir Charles G. D. Roberts (PD) Ladies Home Journal, Dec. 1, 1910

It's a great story where a moose sought shelter and protection from some marauding wolves in mid winter at a farm. The hosts put the seemingly tame moose in the barn with the horses.

Of course there's more to the story but it's not relevant to your question.

Now I'm exactly sure why a moose would be scraping your door except to be rubbing velvet off it's antlers. But it does seem to be a little early for moose to have their velvet starting to become itchy enough they want to rub it off.

That's the only reason however, that I can think of that a moose would come knocking at your door.

Is it possible you can send a picture of your door?

Comments for Would a moose scrape at a house and why?

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Sasquatch
by: Dan Buss

Have you ever heard of a Sasquatch? It sounds like that's what it is Angela. He want's to move in I would say. So put out a game camera that will take night pictures. So you can have a look at him.
Moose scratching
by: Michel

My wife has relatives in Germany who have a hunting cabin in Sweden.

Moose have been known to get their antlers stuck in the roof overhang.
Thanks for your response!
by: Angela Hart

Yes,I can take picture of the door and post on here.
The idea of a moose scraping his velvet off is a feasible one.

We live at 10,000 feet elevation, fall is arriving quick. The mornings have turned quite cold, the air is brisker at other times of the day, I've seen a couple of aspen turning color, no frost yet though. It will likely freeze in 2-3 weeks up this high.

A bear was on the porch of a house on this same property fifty yards away the same night, but again there are no paw nail marks on the door.
Where Sasquatch Lives!
by: Angela Hart

Thanks for your comments! Actually sasquatch lives near Eureka, California in the Redwood forest by my other home. You think I'm kidding. :)
Swedish moose!
by: Angela Hart

It's very interesting that moose in Sweden get their antlers caught in the edges of the roofs! I'm really thinking now that it was the moose scraping against my house!
Porcupine!
by: Angela Hart

Well. We had the scraping late one night AGAIN! Man I was done! I was getting to the bottom of this! Opened the door with a jab and who stands there but the friendly neighborhood porcupine!!! We got it to go away a couple days later by putting a salt lick in the woods. I'm still wondering if the moose was involved. We DEFINATELY had some scraping too high up for the porcupine!!! For future reference a provolone scraping at a filenames a tremendous amount of noise, you'd never guess it was that lil guy! I've been told porcupines will chew wood because they need the salt, hence the salt lick which solved the problem.
Mystery Solved
by: Mark - The Mooseman

Well, I'm glad you were able to figure out your mystery guest.
You have to watch out for those porkies, they'll chew your tires too! They love rubber.

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