[HN Gopher] Hitting a Moose
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       Hitting a Moose
        
       Author : quickfox
       Score  : 62 points
       Date   : 2022-10-21 19:14 UTC (1 days ago)
        
 (HTM) web link (www.outsideonline.com)
 (TXT) w3m dump (www.outsideonline.com)
        
       | deliciousturkey wrote:
       | Modern cars are much better with moose crashes. A couple of years
       | ago I was in driving back from grocery store, just south of
       | Sodankyla in northern Finland, during the darkest times of
       | winter, when the car in front of me crashed into a moose. The
       | moose bounced multiple meters into the air from the windshield of
       | the car in front of me, and I needed to do the typical evasive
       | maneuver (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moose_test) to avoid the
       | flying moose. I'd estimate that the crash happened with speed of
       | around 40-50 km/h.
       | 
       | The person driving the car in front of me survived unscathed,
       | without any injury. The car (2010's VW Passat) very likely was a
       | loss though. This just tells how good modern cars are with these
       | kinds of crashes.
       | 
       | In Finland there are about 1000-2000 moose crashes every year,
       | but only around 1-4 people die from them.
        
       | Waterluvian wrote:
       | "The winch was rated to handle the moose's weight--roughly 1,500
       | pounds"
       | 
       | Permit me on this wonderful Saturday morning to be tangentially
       | pedantic.
       | 
       | I imagine the true "weight" of dragging a moose across the ground
       | is a lot more than 1500lbs by probably many multiples?
        
         | kache_ wrote:
         | The guy nearly died man give him a break lmao
        
         | peteradio wrote:
         | I don't need to be able to lift 200 lbs to pull 200 lbs...
        
           | Waterluvian wrote:
           | Yeah... I'm not actually sure what the right numbers would
           | be.
           | 
           | I have to imagine that dragging 1500lbs across rough terrain
           | and up out of a ditch might have a peak load greater than
           | 1500lbs?
        
         | nkrisc wrote:
         | It's been a while since high school physics, so I may be way
         | off, but you only need to overcome the static friction of the
         | object and surface.
         | 
         | It's the reason I can push a large piece of furniture across a
         | floor even though I could never lift it myself.
        
           | Waterluvian wrote:
           | I think you're right and my intuition is way off.
           | 
           | Now I'm curious if the load is ever going to be greater than
           | a dead lift, assuming no edge cases like being blocked behind
           | a boulder. Ie. Just general ground friction and some incline
           | plane angle less than 90deg.
        
             | jameshart wrote:
             | For the inclined plane scenario, if you're applying a force
             | _horizontally_ (eg by dragging with a rope) and the object
             | has to slide up and over an inclined bump... even a
             | _frictionless_ incline of 45deg will require you to pull
             | horizontally with the more force than the object's weight
             | in order to get it to move.
        
             | invalidator wrote:
             | That's determined by the coefficient of friction between
             | the load and the surface. A coefficient of 1 means the
             | force to drag is equal to the normal force (ie, the dead
             | lift). Most things (including moose fur on soil) have a
             | coefficient < 1, but it's not hard to engineer combinations
             | > 1, such as race tires on asphalt.
        
               | gfna wrote:
               | I have been waiting for being able to use this link for
               | some time now. Perhaps the results of dragging sheep are
               | correlated: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/12507336/
        
           | jameshart wrote:
           | Valid for a spherical moose on a smooth plane with constant
           | coefficient of friction, sure.
           | 
           | But an object dragged across a real surface will catch on
           | things, and the force to overcome that is going to depend on
           | the breaking strain of the objects and the elastic
           | coefficients required to deform them.
           | 
           | That's the reason that even a winch rated to the weight of
           | your sofa can't pull it through a doorway that's too small
           | for it.
        
         | is_true wrote:
         | Are you saying that he should've bought a lighter winch and a
         | pair of wheels?
        
           | rolph wrote:
           | heavier winch about 2ton or he should have gut n cut it into
           | quarters right there
        
             | codazoda wrote:
             | But that would cover him in grass, perhaps. The quartering
             | I mean.
        
       | kache_ wrote:
       | People don't realize how truly massive moose are. They are
       | literal alien monsters that tower over. First time I saw one I
       | was shocked. They just step over fences like they aren't even
       | there.
        
         | 11235813213455 wrote:
         | people also don't realize how massive and deadly are cars,
         | until they walk or ride a bike along the road borders
        
         | jesse__ wrote:
         | I drove by a small female in a large 1 ton dodge last year and
         | she was still 2 or 3 feet taller than the cab of the truck.
         | They're huuuuge!
        
       | bombcar wrote:
       | Deer cause enough damage, and they're tiny compared to a moose.
       | 
       | I'd much rather be bit by a moose than hit a moose.
        
         | brudgers wrote:
         | A Moose once bit my sister.
        
           | tartoran wrote:
           | Ouch. Did she require serious medical care?
        
             | tpm wrote:
             | That's a Monty Python reference.
             | 
             | https://m.imdb.com/title/tt0071853/crazycredits
        
               | brudgers wrote:
               | No seriously, moose bites can be pretty nasty.
        
             | hprotagonist wrote:
             | Mynd you, moose bites Kan be pretti nasti
        
         | ghaff wrote:
         | It's not just their mass and general size. Moose have very long
         | legs so, in a collision, a lot of the front car parts designed
         | to absorb energy can end up largely passing under the bulk of
         | the moose and upper structure offers relatively little
         | protection.
        
         | chewbacha wrote:
         | A full-grown bull moose can run up to 35 mph. So, unless you
         | are traveling faster than that, I don't think it makes a
         | difference who hits who. ;)
        
           | cwillu wrote:
           | Now imagine what that moose could do if it was an _educated_
           | moose?
           | 
           | https://globalnews.ca/news/8349864/moose-saskatoon-school/
        
           | Zak wrote:
           | The grandparent comment says "be _bit_ by a moose ", so
           | that's a slightly different scenario. Of course if it's
           | biting out of fear or aggression, it's also likely to knock
           | you down and stomp on you, and you probably wouldn't rather
           | have that. It's not rare for moose to kill people that way.
           | 
           | As for collisions, the highway the author was driving on has
           | a speed limit of 55 or 65 MPH in most areas, and people often
           | treat speed limits as suggestions. I had a near miss with a
           | moose on the same highway, after which I would suggest taking
           | the speed limit seriously.
        
             | chewbacha wrote:
             | Oh, that's fair, I misread the wording.
        
           | hobs wrote:
           | Having seen a moose truck through five foot deep snow like it
           | wasn't even there I can attest being hit by a moose is a one
           | way ticket to your maker.
        
       | franksvalli wrote:
       | It's definitely no joke! When I hiked half the Appalachian Trail
       | and eventually made it to Maine, a shuttle driver that came out
       | to pick us up from a nearby hostel talked about how he'd lost
       | several friends to car accidents due to moose collisions. He was
       | intensely interested in arriving back at the hostel before dark.
       | 
       | He also had some sort of decoration made out of moose scat
       | decoration hanging from the rearview mirror and was also trying
       | to convince us passengers of the many uses of moose scats - skin
       | remedies, even ingestion. But that's another story!
        
         | hammock wrote:
         | Sadly the moose pop in Maine has declined by like 70% or
         | something due to the proliferation of winter tick
        
       | gvb wrote:
       | "What Happens When You Actually Hit a Moose? Volvo Has a Moose-
       | Strike Test for That." (2018)
       | 
       | https://www.caranddriver.com/features/a22604428/what-happens...
        
         | eesmith wrote:
         | Did they get the idea from Saab?
         | https://www.saabplanet.com/frontal-collision-of-saab-and-moo...
         | 
         | > In order to reduce the number of injuries caused by passenger
         | cars colliding with moose - Saab engineers have designed a
         | Moose Test - Unique in Industry. This research and subsequent
         | changes in Saab cars design - have saved many lives on the
         | roads
         | 
         | I was told the Saab 900s were designed to handle moose
         | collisions.
        
         | hourago wrote:
         | It makes a lot of sense. To drive around Sweden at night is a
         | scary experience.
         | 
         | As you drive thru the dark road deer look at you from the
         | sides, that ones are not the problem as one can see them. After
         | several hours you pass a big dead male moose on the side of the
         | road. Its big antlers are covered with yellow police ribbon
         | that turns bright as your car illuminates it. You think that
         | you are lucky to have not been there when it decided to cross,
         | someone else got that unlucky surprise. You feel even more
         | uneasy for the rest of the trip.
        
       | rolph wrote:
       | Alaskan moose stand about 7 feet tall at the shoulder when
       | mature, alot of that is just long legs, but a complete bull moose
       | can easily be 3/4 ton.
       | 
       | most collisions with cars end up clipping the legs out under it
       | and the moose goes straight through the windshield at whatever
       | speed you were moving.
       | 
       | for those reasons and others large trucks are the rule, and cars
       | are a risk.
       | 
       | moose here are mostly crepuscular, active during dawn and dusk,
       | and chillin in between. they are very hard to spot except for
       | eyes reflecting light [catlike]
       | 
       | Its common to have high intensity long throw LED lights[i call'em
       | moose blasters] mounted on your rig so you have a chance to see
       | them, and have time to react.
       | 
       | there is a list here of experiences that you must compleate, to
       | be considered, a seasoned skookum alaskan, moose collision is one
       | of them.
        
         | jcadam wrote:
         | I've lived in Alaska (Kenai Peninsula) about 18 months now.
         | Haven't hit a moose yet (knocks on wood). Have had to brake a
         | little hard a couple times in my F-150, though.
         | 
         | There are "scoreboards" along some stretches of the highway
         | showing the number of moose killed so far in a year.
         | 
         | I see a few people driving Priuses. I don't think they'll last
         | very long.
        
           | rolph wrote:
           | yup theyre along the whole highway, the article was a little
           | out of date,though the moose isnt yours if its a road kill,
           | its state property [the state claims ownership of moose but
           | shirks stewardship] and its ?donated? in someway to food
           | security solutions [giveaways to people who have insecure/no
           | food supply]
           | 
           | its an offence to just take roadkill moose. its also an
           | offence to allow it to spoil by not reporting it.
        
         | Scoundreller wrote:
         | At least in Alaska you probably don't salt the roads. In places
         | that do, the road actually baits deer and moose.
         | 
         | And sometimes go for the salt on your vehicle:
         | 
         | https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.nytimes.com/2020/11/23/worl...
        
       | chrsig wrote:
       | Growing up in rural New England, every now and then we'd have
       | some moose wandering through. One jumped over my dads car,
       | leaving a pretty significant dent. Moose walked away unphased.
       | 
       | The thing to know about moose: they don't give a fuck. they're a
       | goddamn moose, and they'll go where they please and be there for
       | as long as they like. The fuck you gonna do about it?
       | 
       | And when you're stopped in the middle of the road waiting for the
       | moose to deign to let you by, you just keep reminding yourself of
       | that little fact, and remember how to be patient.
        
         | dreamcompiler wrote:
         | When we camped in our RV at a park in western Wyoming we
         | couldn't open our door one morning. I kept pushing on the door
         | but it wouldn't move. Turned out there were 3 or 4 moose cows
         | with their calves just outside and one cow was leaning against
         | the door and she wouldn't move.
         | 
         | Finally I got the bright idea to dangle a carrot through a
         | crack in the door. She took it and moved away so we could exit.
         | 
         | Those were some smart moose.
        
       | [deleted]
        
       | rojobuffalo wrote:
       | a guy won an Ignobel prize this year for his moose crash test
       | dummy paper https://www.diva-
       | portal.org/smash/record.jsf?pid=diva2%3A673... . one of his
       | suggestions if you're suddenly about to hit a moose, steer
       | towards the rear. since the moose will move forward you have a
       | better chance if you veer your car towards its rear end.
        
       | dghughes wrote:
       | I live in the only Canadian province that doesn't have moose, or
       | bears, or deer, or any large animals other farm animals. Even
       | skunks were imported (and escaped) as a cheaper replacement for
       | fox fur. We don't have the experience of being aware of large
       | animals on rural roads. Most times it is known if a cow or a
       | horse is on the loose.
       | 
       | When I travel to neighbouring provinces I am nervous driving on
       | the highway. Especially in the fall when it starts to get dark
       | early or the sun is low on the horizon longer. I've seen moose on
       | the side of the road with their dark brown velvety fur. Females
       | and juveniles are the worst since no antlers makes for a stealthy
       | profile, males still have antlers until mid-winter.
       | 
       | It's such perfect camouflage even when lit by car headlights. Car
       | headlights are made to look forward not to the side. Often a
       | moose just appears out of nowhere the few times I have been lucky
       | to miss one the few times I am on the road in areas with moose.
       | 
       | Let's just say I'm glad we don't have to worry about such things
       | here.
        
         | racl101 wrote:
         | Don't bury the lede. What province is that?
        
           | mgsouth wrote:
           | I'm guessing Prince Edward Island.
        
       | rasterdog wrote:
       | I was enjoying the beginning of this article so I wanted to save
       | it as a PDF for review later when I would be off-grid BUT NOEP
       | CANNOT so goodbye
        
         | hairofadog wrote:
         | https://www.dropbox.com/s/l4cu3y4e243q9q9/Moose.pdf?dl=0
        
         | 11235813213455 wrote:
         | step 1: open devtools
         | 
         | step 2: figure out the navbar is the problem
         | 
         | step 3: kill it (select the <header>, and press Delete)
         | 
         | step 4: Ctrl+P
        
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