Who Let the Moose Out? Giant Deer Stops Traffic on a Highway Just 'Cause It Can

Wildlife is always a risk when you're driving a car through more or less remote parts of the world, but not all wildlife was created equal. While hitting a little prairie mouse might be horrible for the kids who get to see the poor rodent, the impact won't even be held inside the car. In fact, there is no impact - it's worse when you hit a bee flying straight at your windshield.

However, Australian drivers, for example, have a very hard time dealing with kangaroos. Unlike the mice, roos are big, heavy, and tend to jump out of nowhere in front of your speeding vehicle. And as if crashing into 200 lbs of muscle and bone weren't bad enough, the also have the tendency of jumping straight up whenever they feel threatened, meaning the marsupial is likely to hit the car's upper, less sturdy structure.

Well, when we talk about a moose, it doesn't really matter with what part of your car you hit it anymore because an adult male can weigh over 1,500 lbs (700 kilograms), and on top of that, it also comes equipped with a massive set of antlers. They are also well-known for their easily irritable mood, especially if it's mating season and you happen to look the wrong way at its sweetheart.

That's why people have come up with ways to avoid these animals. The moose test sees cars execute a quick evasive maneuver, simulating the situation where one of these large animals wanders on the road unexpectedly. A failed moose test is if the vehicle exhibits unstable handling characteristics, but we think it would be equally bad if it didn't manage to avoid the beast.

That's why the recommended course of action, whenever possible, is to brake to a complete halt and try to alert the others to do the same. This is exactly what's happening here. Seeing the moose standing taller than that Mercedes-Benz ML-Class is scary, but they can grow even bigger than this with some males being over two meters high (6'6") at shoulder level.