{"id":543229,"date":"2026-03-24T23:27:22","date_gmt":"2026-03-24T23:27:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/543229\/"},"modified":"2026-03-24T23:27:22","modified_gmt":"2026-03-24T23:27:22","slug":"moose-collides-with-musician-driving-home-from-rocky-mountain-national-park","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/543229\/","title":{"rendered":"Moose collides with musician driving home from Rocky Mountain National Park"},"content":{"rendered":"

Editor\u2019s note: The story was updated to clarify the location of the collision. <\/p>\n

A sunny day in Grand County provided perfect conditions for a scenic drive through the countryside. Local musician Andy Straus felt relaxed as he and a friend made their way through the winding forest roads.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf we\u2019re lucky, we\u2019ll see a moose today,\u201d Straus recalled telling his friend. <\/p>\n

They ran into a couple from Colorado Springs who had never seen a moose before, and decided to make a trip to Rocky Mountain National Park to try their chances.<\/p>\n

The group was in luck. They saw moose after moose grazing on the side of the road. Soon, the evening turned dark. Straus decided it was time to head back.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe were probably going under the speed limit,\u201d the singer-guitarist for Hunker Down<\/a> told Sky-Hi News. <\/p>\n

Suddenly, as Straus drove down U.S. Highway 34 south of Grand Lake, a moose charged up from a ditch near the road, catching him completely off guard. The collision occurred nearby Timberline Inn where the road passes along Shadow Mountain Lake. <\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m a fisherman; I\u2019m always scanning the scene for wildlife, but this came out of nowhere,\u201d he said. \u201cIt was a completely unavoidable incident.\u201d<\/p>\n

The moose swiftly struck the hood of Straus\u2019s car, rolling up toward the windshield before hitting the ground and breaking both of its legs. Straus immediately pulled over and dialed 911. When the police arrived, they had to shoot the moose at least four times. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt was really sad,\u201d Straus said. \u201cThat\u2019s something that will haunt me forever; it was awful.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"A moose struck at dusk in Rocky Mountain National Park had to be put down on March 18. Andy Straus\/Courtesy photo<\/p>\n

His newly purchased car was totaled from the impact, which completely destroyed the front of the vehicle. <\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t think I could have done anything different, or that I would have done anything different, in retrospect,\u201d he said. \u201cBut I\u2019ve learned to pay extra special attention, especially at dusk.\u201d<\/p>\n

How to avoid wildlife collisions<\/p>\n

Rocky Mountain National Park officials urge visitors to stay at least\u00a075 feet, or about two bus lengths,\u00a0away from all wildlife, according to their website<\/a>. <\/p>\n

They advise staying at least\u00a0120 feet, or about three bus lengths,\u00a0away from black bears, moose, and mountain lions. Stay safe and\u00a0never assume you are the one that can get away with a close encounter.<\/p>\n

If any kind of wildlife approaches you,\u00a0park officials encourage visitors to back away and maintain a safe distance.<\/p>\n

\"\"Moose splash through a wetland in Rocky Mountain National Park. Rocky Mountain National Park\/Courtesy Photo<\/p>\n

Original reporting from Skyhinews.com <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Editor\u2019s note: The story was updated to clarify the location of the collision. A sunny day in Grand…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":543230,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[51],"tags":[79,201],"class_list":["post-543229","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-wildlife","tag-science","tag-wildlife"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/543229","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=543229"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/543229\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/543230"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=543229"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=543229"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=543229"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}