\n<\/p>\n
Rarely do we carve out the time to cover all the \u201cnational park tourists acting like idiots<\/a>\u201d stories. If we did, we\u2019d never get a chance to write about anything else. But this video<\/a> of two drunk guys harassing a young moose, filmed by Jake Hopfensperger on March 29 outside a bar in Big Sky, Montana, rises above the mundanity of your everyday dumbass vs. wildlife footage. Maybe it\u2019s the fact that the boys are clearly intoxicated that makes it so entertaining, or maybe it\u2019s their completely unfounded self-confidence. <\/p>\n Either way, anyone even remotely familiar with moose behavior<\/a> knows they should have heeded Hopfensperger\u2019s warnings, which was mixed with a good amount of profanity.<\/p>\n\n The video opens with the two boys, hands jammed in pockets, giggling and standing about 12 feet from the rear end of the young moose. The moose seems to be assessing a route over a large snowdrift. You can tell Hopfensperger\u2019s been shouting at them before the footage started rolling because the first coherent thing that comes from one of the guys\u2019 mouths is \u201cIs it your moose?\u201d<\/p>\n Hopfensperger starts tossing F-bombs out, trying to persuade the guys to leave the moose alone.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s not my moose, but it\u2019s a goddamn wild animal. Get the fuck away from it,\u201d he shouts.<\/p>\n \u201cLet it be wild,\u201d another guy behind the camera chimes in.<\/p>\n Hopfensperger keeps going in on them. But the two guys have all the self-assuredness of, well, two drunken fools. They keep inching closer, chuckling, and shouting incoherent, muffled nonsense. <\/p>\n \u201cSee what happens,\u201d Hopfensperger shouts. \u201cSee what the fuck happens.\u201d<\/p>\n Then the guys start faking like they\u2019re going to touch the moose. While they\u2019re staring back at Hopfensperger, the moose turns and eyes them. <\/p>\n \u201cYou wish it would hit me right now!\u201d one of the guys shout. Hopfensperger and his friend admit that yeah, they do wish that. At this point, we all do, too.<\/p>\n One of the dudes taps the moose on the rump and turns to run, but slips in the process. The moose pivots on its hind legs, lowers its head with pinned ears, and starts stomping<\/a> the fallen guy, who continues flailing on the ground. <\/p>\n \u201cYeah, get him! Get him!\u201d Hopfensperger shouts, encouraging the stomping. <\/p>\n Like a PG-13 movie, the whole scene disappears behind a parked car. We don\u2019t really know how it ends. What we do know is that, according to Hopfensperger, the moose was unharmed. We also know that Montana Fish, Wildlife, and Parks is investigating the incident.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is a good example of what can happen when you\u2019re too close to wildlife. Moose can be very defensive of their space \u2026 [an encounter like this] really causes stressful events for these animals,\u201d MFWP\u2019s Morgan Jacobsen tells MTN News<\/a>. \u201cWe\u2019ll do an investigation. There are laws in Montana that prohibit harassing wildlife.\u201d<\/p>\nThe Build-Up<\/h2>\n
The Attack<\/h2>\n
The Aftermath<\/h2>\n