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SUV Hits Moose, Sends Moose Flying Into The Air

SILVERTHORNE, Colo. (CBS4) - A woman in Summit County captured graphic video of an SUV colliding with a moose.

Kayla Whitehead says she pulled over to watch two moose on the side of Highway 9 north of Silverthorne.

CAR HITS MOOSE in Colorado - White River National Forest by Kayla Zowada on YouTube

"Right as soon as I started filming one of the moose turned towards the highway and the other moose stopped to watch. All of a sudden, that car entered the frame and I didn't see the car until it entered the frame either and I was like, 'Oh no!' They were going to hit. I just started freaking out," Whitehead said.

An oncoming driver had no idea the moose was there. Whitehead said she and her brother Elliot went to check on them and they were miraculously unhurt in an incident wildlife officials say could have easily been fatal.

moose
(credit: Kayla Whitehead)

"I turned off the video and ran over to see about the guys in the car and the windshield was just hanging inwards, almost broke through but it didn't. And they were all fine. A police officer came and we went to try and see if the moose was still in the bushes but he was gone at that point," Whitehead said.

Colorado Parks and Wildlife officers said they tracked the moose for some time and were not able to find a carcass. They say it was initially able to survive the accident.

The driver of the SUV was not injured, but the impact smashed the vehicle's windshield.

car hits moose damage
(credit: CBS)

This is the same stretch of highway where crews are building wildlife overpasses to prevent these kinds of accidents.

Whitehead says that wildlife employees told her they're going "to use the video for educational purposes to warn of the dangers of wildlife crossing the road."

"It's kind of cool that it's moving around educating on wildlife and stuff. The guys were from out of town. They were from Chicago and I think maybe they just didn't know to watch for cars pulled over on the side of the road that, that probably means there's wildlife there," she said.

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