A city statement says the police first spotted the animal shortly before 11 p.m. at 14th and Spruce streets. An officer began slowly following the moose as it turned onto the Pearl Street Mall between 13th and 14th Streets.
Police had to shoo the gawkers away as the moose ambled up the pedestrian-only mall, then crossed the lawn of the Boulder County Courthouse. It was taking a rest in the Hotel Boulderado parking lot near 13th and Spruce Streets when a police sergeant -- advised by Colorado Parks and Wildlife -- starting firing beanbag rounds at the its backside.
It's next stop was someone's yard near 13th and Mapleton. There, the cops tried banging on the fence and then firing a few more beanbags. So the moose got up and crossed Broadway and into the area of 11th and Maxwell streets.
With the moose far enough away from crowded areas, the cops stood down. Last the city heard, the moose was gone with the night. Police don’t know whether she headed back to the foothills, or someplace else. Either way, they're urging folks not to approach the moose, but to call authorities.
