Man dared to touch a moose in a parking lot, and everyone watching knew exactly how it would end

Two men in a snowy Montana parking lot recently learned why you should never touch a wild moose. One of them slipped on ice and got charged by the massive animal. The whole thing was caught on video and quickly went viral online.

The TikTok video, credited to creators @uegn.k and @bibwitharte, reportedly happened in Big Sky, Montana, at night. According to Bro Bible, it showed two men standing near a large moose on a snowy hill. One man appeared to be holding a canned drink, which likely didn’t help his judgment.

Two other men filmed from a safe distance and desperately tried to warn the pair. The camera operators were clearly frustrated by what they were seeing. One man filming warned them, “It’s not my moose, but it’s a wild animal. Get away from it, you idiots.” The second cameraman told them to “Let it be wild.” When the two men near the moose just laughed, the first speaker said, “You guys must be the dumbest people I’ve ever met in my life.”

The warnings fell on deaf ears as danger loomed

This behavior was extremely dangerous. Moose are not friendly animals. They can grow up to seven feet tall and weigh between 800 to 1,600 pounds or more.

Moose are considered more dangerous than bears because they live close to humans. Similar to how bears can create dangerous situations, wildlife encounters often end badly. In Alaska, five to 10 people are hospitalized every year after getting too close to them.

Despite the warnings, the two men were determined to touch the animal. The cameramen eventually gave up trying to stop them. “Go ahead, touch it,” one said. The other added, “See what happens.”

After one final warning, both men crept closer to the moose. One man touched the moose’s rear end. The animal immediately turned and charged. Both men tried to run, but the one who touched it slipped and fell in the snow. 

The moose made contact as the man tried to get up, and they both disappeared behind a parked car. Wildlife experts often warn about how wild animals behave unpredictably when humans get too close. The video has gotten nearly 12 million views and 1.7 million likes in three days. It’s unclear what happened to the two men afterward.