Moose on the loose in Middlebury

Middlebury (WTNH) - A moose is on the loose. Many have spotted him, but in one neighborhood, they got an up-close and personal look when he paid a visit twice.

"My girlfriend called me up and she says that there's a moose in the yard," Joe Ficeto, of Middlebury, said.

His reaction?

"Oh, I didn't believe her," Ficeto said.

To prove it, Joe Ficeto's girlfriend went outside got just a few yards from it and took pictures. The moose was ambling across Ficeto's backyard on Park Road Extension in Middlebury.

"I just happened to open up my door because this was about maybe quarter to ten in the morning and that's when I saw it," Mary Brezak, of Middlebury, said.

Mary Brezak says she's seen plenty of wildlife around these parts, but never a moose.

He's a young male about two years olds. He has small antlers, but that's the only thing small about this guy.

"Oh, he was, he was big," Brezak said.

"Maybe 800 pounds, I would say maybe 800 pounds, he was large," Ficeto said.

Ficeto was able to see the moose for himself when he got home from work.

The animal actually returned to his yard seven hours after he made his first appearance.

The moose then apparently walked through the woods and over to Western Hills Golf Course in Waterbury just around dinnertime.

He was seen standing right where these golfers tee off on the first hole. The groundskeeper had found moose tracks on the course the night before. Folks speculate he might be sticking around.

"We have a swamp down in the back over here and I think that's probably where it's staying," Brezak said.

The DEP says they are keeping an eye on him. If the moose gets closer to more densely populated areas, they'll have to find him, tranquilize him and relocate him.