Sudbury

North Bay moose goes for a swim, disrupts traffic for a day

A strolling moose that ended up going for a swim in downtown North Bay caused plenty of traffic issues.
A moose wandered into Lake Nipissing on Wednesday, causing plenty of traffic issues on nearby Memorial Drive. (Supplied/Rob Saunders)

A strolling moose that ended up going for a swim in downtown North Bay caused plenty of traffic issues.

Early Wednesday morning, police say they received a call about a moose that had wandered into the city. Several hours later, police started to receive traffic complaints on Memorial Drive.

"Cars were stopping to look at the moose that was in the water in Lake Nipissing," Staff Sergeant Rick Dubeau with North Bay Police said.

The Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry was called in to assist. Dubeau says plenty of spectators showed up. Police ended up closing the road for the day to try and get the public to move on.

"It was just causing the moose to be nervous," he said.

"The moose eventually moved out around 5:20 in the afternoon on his own when the sun started coming down and there were less people in the area."

Dubeau says once the moose left the water, it headed towards the bush.

The story also caught the attention of many on social media, as a true Canadian moment.