A New Brunswick man has captured amazing bird’s-eye footage of the moment an antler rack came loose from a moose’s head and crashed to the ground.
Woodsman Derek Burgoyne was surveying hardwood trees of Plaster Rock, N.B., earlier this month when he spotted three bull moose — two of which had already shed their antlers. He was filming the third moose using a drone when the animal paused, shook its body, and both antlers released from the animal’s head and dropped into the snow below.
Speaking to the camera, Burgoyne said in the Jan. 12 footage that this was his second time capturing a moose shed its antlers, but the first time he had seen both antlers being shed at the same time.
He shared additional footage that he shot from the ground, following the moose’s tracks to pick up the shed rack.
“I consider this winning the lottery when it comes to filming wildlife,” Burgoyne told Storyful. “A bull can shed one antler and carry the other side for days or even weeks. So to capture both antlers shedding at the exact time is extremely rare! Once-in-a-lifetime moment!”
Burgoyne added that it was “the best experience” he’d had in the woods.
Just like the moose that was captured shedding its antlers on doorbell camera in Alaska last month, this moose, too, was startled by the sound of his antlers hitting the snow and ran off in the other direction.
According to the Yukon Wildlife Preserve, moose shed their antlers once a year, sometime in mid-winter following rutting (breeding) season.
Moose appear to be unbothered by the shed and new antlers begin to grow several weeks later.