Digging deep into the Doubletough archives, I came across this one from 2006 that is absolutely remarkable. The incident occurred in October 2004 near Fairbanks, Alaska. To replace or update power cables, electrical crews will attach the new cable to the old, then pull the old line through, bringing the new line through the towers / poles with it. Slack occurs in the new line until the crew has it in hand and is able to tighten it.
In this particular case, the slack for the static line (a line strung alongside power lines to serve as a lightning rod) was hanging low enough for a moose to become entangled. As the crew began taking up the slack, unaware of the moose’s dilemma, they kept cranking in the line even as it required more torque than expected. Realizing something was amiss, the crew went searching the line for the problem.
They found the moose, still alive, lifted 50 feet above the ground. According to the report, the cable was slackened and the moose released but eventually dispatched due to stress from his ordeal. Local fish & game officials believe the moose was in full rut and upon seeing the cable moving up and down, decided to “challenge” it.
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Old bullwinkle wasen’t going stand still for a powerline to steal his p….