Returning home from errands last night, we encountered several police cars and officers in the street. This is a pretty unusual display for Wellesley. What sparked it? Well, it wasn't a home invader or a gang of punk teens.

It was a moose.

A year-old moose wandered into town sometime yesterday, apparently following a water source (the Charles, they think) and separated from its mom. It wasn't too agitated, but considering that even a young moose weighs a quarter ton there was some concern about the moose getting in front of oncoming traffic. The moose decided to put that concern to the test by crossing Route 9 (divided highway, 2 lanes each way, speed limit averages 45 mph but actual speeds are more like bigger highways), and thankfully didn't get hit. The police did shut the road down for a while, thinking it might cross back. Instead, it wandered into Natick and found a pond to swim in.

The plan, as far as I can tell, is to tranquilize the moose and transport it to more moose-friendly environs. Also as far as I can tell, this hasn't happened yet. Now if someone could just tie the moose to al-Qaeda, it'd be off the streets by lunchtime. Though I can't imagine a moose would do well with the heat at Camp X-Ray.