ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) – So this moose enters a medical building…
While this may be a setup for a bad joke, it actually happened in Anchorage on Thursday.
A calf trots through the snow in search of a meal of leafy greens in the lobby of a medical building at Providence Alaska Health Park and decides to stop in for a dose of greenery.
Randy Hughes, the hospital’s director of security, said the genius — or lucky guy — triggered sensors on the automatic doors of the building that houses the hospital’s cancer center and other doctors’ offices.
“We got a call from one of our tenants saying that a moose had just entered the building,” Hughes said.
Hughes thinks it’s the same moose that hangs around campus. Although elk are common in Alaska, they have made an internal declaration of the presence of moose for safety reasons.
“But it seemed like a magnet for people to come and see,” he said. “No elk enters a building every day, so everyone was happy to take pictures and things like that.”
In a video posted to social media, a woman wearing a mask and scrubs can be heard saying, “This is crazy,” as she walks past a moose, and takes a picture with her phone.
The moose was too busy eating plants in the office to notice the commotion he was making.
Security guards formed a semicircle to chase the deer out the door. One officer even grabbed a piece of plant that the moose were eating and tried to lure it away.
“Well, I guess he’s tired of everyone staring at him and watching him eat,” said Hughes.
The stag left the building but hung around the semi-circular corridor of the building for a bit before heading to the other side of the building to sleep in the afternoon.
This wasn’t the first time an elk had entered one of the hospital complex’s buildings, and bears had attempted to enter an emergency room before.
“There is never a dull moment here at the hospital,” Hughes said.
