Moose Uses I-90 Wildlife Undercrossing Near Snoqualmie Pass

A cow moose was spotted using a wildlife crossing under I-90 just east of Snoqualmie Pass over the weekend.

A tweet from WashDOT late this morning shows the big ungulate walking through Resort Creek near where it empties into Keechelus Lake about 7 miles east of the busy pass through Washington’s Central Cascades on Saturday morning

It’s rare for a moose to be in this part of the state, as most are concentrated along the northern tier in Okanogan, Ferry, Stevens, Pend Oreille and Spokane Counties, but they are known for wandering around, as any number of “moose loose on the Palouse” headlines will attest.

Closer to Snoqualmie Pass, they also occasionally show up near Wenatchee, with some captured and turned loose near Lake Wenatchee.

What makes this sighting interesting is that it adds to the list of species using a series of wildlife crossings on I-90 on the east side of the Cascade Crest. Cameras have captured thousands of deer and elk, along with some bobcats, raccoons and weasels and at least one cougar, all during the 2020 field season.

There’s another wildlife undercrossing at Gold Creek, closer to the pass, and an overpass just east of the lake.

The long-snouted ungulate sparked WashDOT to tweet out a modified version of Queen’s Bohemian Rhapsody with the hashtag #misheardlyrics

• “I see a big-o silhouetto of a mammal,
• 𝗦𝗽𝗼𝘁 𝗮 𝗺𝗼𝗼𝘀𝗲, spot a moose, will you eat a native willow?
• Wildlife and crossings, very, very enlightening me
• Her name is Leo, call her Leo
• Her name is Leo, call her Leo
• Our friend Leo, caught on video – say hello