Someone's been eating too many fermented apples--and that will reportedly get you stuck in a tree. Police in Sweden decided to let a drunk moose "sleep it off" after the animal got itself stuck in branches following one too many fruit 'cocktails' that put the wild beast in a stupor.
It's that time of year in Sweden: Gusty winds and a bit of inclement weather tend to lend themselves to a nightcap. One moose, at least, prefers that idea. After the scenario, it may be Per Johansson that needs one. The Swedish resident had headed home to Saro -- outside Gothenburg, Sweden -- when he heard a screaming that wasn't the howling wind.
The guy first attributed screams to 'crazy neighbors' -- before ruling them out. It seems we all must have at least one set of those neighbors.
But then the guy discovered something big lodged in his neighbor's tree: a drunk moose.
On the ground the animal may not have proven quite so mysterious. But hundreds of pounds worth of bulk in a tree is a bit more intriguing. Apparently it's not just humans that prove the idea that one is never enough: The large animal had been focused on some forbidden fruit -- already having eaten a quantity of fermented apples (aka, alcohol) when it's believed the wild animal had been reaching for one more. A bit of drunkenness apparently barred that idea and equaled a slip-up, causing the moose to find itself accidentally lodged in a tree.
While Transylvania moved high school students taking an exam in order to allow bats some beauty rest, it seems Sweden is also prepared to sacrifice the surrounding environment for the sake of animals: Rather than dragging the animal out of the treetop, firefighters actually bent the apple tree with a winch so the moose could kind of get down. Or fall down. Fire and emergency crews relieved the moose from its treetop perspective -- but even after the animal was rescued by firefighters using a fire engine and winch, the wild animal didn't quite go anywhere far. Or anywhere.
Technically freed, the moose didn't run -- but instead just sort of collapsed, falling asleep on the ground. Emergency crews had had enough fun for the evening, heading home for the night while letting the moose sleep off the effects of alcohol.
Moose are aplenty in Sweden. And, strangely, moose intoxication isn't quite so rare either. The Swedes do claim moose are kind of angry drunks: The wild beasts like apple trees, an attraction for the wild beasts that find the fallen fruits most frequently during the autumn season. The average adult moose needs nearly 10,000 calories per day just to maintain body weight. As an herbivore, scarcity of other goodies to munch on -- like vegetation and aquatic plants the animals prefer -- can lead down the path of apples. Even rotten ones.
Fire crews say there's at least one report of a drunken moose each year during the season. Because the ingested apples that continue to ferment in the moose's stomach aren't a routine diet for the animals, a moose impaired by the rotting apples is an unhappy moose.
It seems there's a natural-born entrepreneur in the family: Johansson's son, an 11-year-old boy, spotted the opportunity to bring in some cash, taking photos of the stuck moose for the media. The Swede says his boy's been saving up for an important piece of pre-teen electronics -- a Sony PlayStation which he apparently plans to fund through photographs of the drunk moose provided to a media outlet or two. At least he got one. CNN bought 3 drunk-moose-in-a-tree pictures and has already featured one photo of the stuck beast.
No word on how much the outlet paid for the news photographs -- but since the boy extended a wish for a PlayStation and not a college education, someone may have gotten quite a bargain.
As for the moose, one animal seems to believe it's got a new home. By early morning, the animal remained while ridding toxins from its system -- sleeping. Hours later the beast roamed the neighbor's property, still a bit unsteady on its feet. But by day's end the moose had returned -- to walk the yard of its 'savior'. The owner says he thinks the moose likes it there. It seems someone with four feet has spotted an adoption opportunity -- and the possibility of meals one step up from rotting apples.