For Pete’s sake
Vermonter turns to Facebook to save ill-fated moose
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By SUSAN ALLEN STAFF WRITER - Published: August 18, 2009
Pete the Moose has more than 1,500 friends, from the Netherlands to Australia, and coast to coast here in the United States — all hoping to stop Vermont Fish & Wildlife officials from killing the increasingly famous moose living on an elk farm in Irasburg.
Beth White of Morrisville is the matchmaker, creating a Facebook page to take the plight of the docile moose viral, his story skyrocketing via the popular computer social network from one friend to another.
"We shot a little video and put it on YouTube, and I thought, I'm not getting enough attention," said White on Monday, recalling how she got involved in trying to save the young moose. "Then you start thinking, how do people communicate? Oh, Facebook. Everybody I ever wanted to find is on Facebook."
So she created a page for Pete, and under his biography wrote, "My name is Peter, I live in the NEK (Northeast Kingdom). I love fresh leaves and bananas and I love my friends. I really want to live but I need everyones, help to make it happen. By joining us you agree that Peter should be saved and that he should be left to live in VT."
At first, she said, about 50 people "friended" Pete on the site. She found herself putting pressure on her own Facebook friends to sign onto Pete's page — and the cause.
Then, suddenly, the site took off, with people all over the world signing up to be Pete's Facebook "friend," White said. On Monday, the moose had 1,500 friends, with the number climbing as the day progressed.
"You start looking and they are from Saudi Arabia and coast to coast, it's just incredible," White said of Pete's friends. "It's all somebody knows somebody knows somebody."
Pete was raised by 73-year-old David Lawrence of Albany, who nursed the then-newborn moose back to health after Pete had been injured by dogs. Pete lives on property owned by Doug Nelson, where native white-tailed deer and moose live among imported elk on Nelson's elk farm and hunting preserve in Irasburg.
Fish and Wildlife is negotiating with Nelson about what steps to take to rid the property of the native animals, and Nelson said that Fish and Wildlife Commissioner Wayne Laroche told him his department would kill the animals, including Pete, in the near future.
Wildlife officials worry that the imported elk might spread diseases, particularly chronic wasting disease, to Vermont's native deer and moose population, and having the native animals living there is against state regulations.
State government was closed Monday for Bennington Battle Day and Laroche could not be reached for comment.
Groups of Vermonters have written letters to newspapers critical of any plan to kill Pete, and a protest was held in Waterbury outside Fish and Wildlife offices late last month.
"I wrote David a letter a few months back when I first heard about Pete. He wrote me back and said come up and see Pete," White said of her initial involvement in the situation.
Inside the letter, Lawrence had added a separate sheet of paper letting her know that he feared the moose would be killed soon and asking, "Do what you can."
"I still get choked up," she said. "I thought, 'I've got to go figure out what I can do, I can't even think. I felt my heart hit my feet.'"
After a visit with Lawrence and Pete, White posted the YouTube video, followed by the Facebook page. She participated in the Waterbury protest, and said that last week the Facebookers were asked to call Gov. James Douglas' office to protest the killing of Pete.
One of Pete's online friends, Elaine Emmi, told The Times Argus via Facebook, "I live in Salt Lake City, Utah, and as we humans encroach into moose territory more and more every year there are instances where moose are either killed or endangered. They were here first and I don't think we are doing a very good job in our stewardship of the earth and all it's creatures. So any moose that can be protected is a victory for me."
White said she hopes that Pete's life can be spared because he is docile and won't leave the farm as long as Lawrence is there. She said she hoped Lawrence could be made a wildlife rehabilitator by the state – and therefore be allowed by the state to keep Pete under his care – although she said Lawrence is not thrilled about that plan.
"It's what has to be done," she said she told Lawrence. "I told him you can't always be going against The Man."
"David is such a kindred spirit," White said of her association with Lawrence and the fight to save Pete. Then, laughing, she joked, "My new best fiend is a 73-year-old man with a moose. I probably need to get out more often."
sue.allen@timesargus.com
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