Customers and staff at a car dealership at Rolvsøy in Fredrikstad, southern Norway, were understandably startled when a moose suddenly ran through the gate leading into the showroom over the weekend.
The website for newspaper Fredriksstad Blad reported that the showroom was full of cars and several of them sustained considerable damage during the moose’s visit.
The moose reportedly tried to leave the showroom by breaking through a large window, but it didn’t manage. Frustrated, it then ran amok in the showroom, smashing one windshield, tearing off another car’s front bumper, denting the rear bumper of yet another car and ruining the paint jobs on three more vehicles.
Andreas Johnsen, sales manager at the firm, Motorforum, said the moose rampage lasted about 10 minutes before the confused animal finally left the showroom the same way it had entered.
Meanwhile, the Norwegian moose hunt is underway and it left municipal offices severely understaffed in Aremark, Østfold County, last week. Both the sheriff and the mayor closed their offices to go moose hunting, reported Norwegian Broadcasting (NRK).
Local residents were mixed on whether moose hunting should have priority over public safety. “Luckily, it’s not every day that we need a sheriff,” said Maria Ulsrød of Aremark. Fellow resident Sissel Helen Land disagreed.
“It’s just incredible that they just close up shop,” Land complained to NRK.
Views and News from Norway/Nina Berglund
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