A bull moose, near Tupper Lake, that has been lingering around an Adirondack mountain trail, through this summer, forcing New York wildlife officials to keep hikers away as they keep watch and wonder why the majestic animal is not moving on.

A big bull moose has spent the summer lingering around a popular Adirondack mountain hiking trail, prompting New York state wildlife officials to close the path as they monitor the potentially ailing animal.

The Goodman Mountain trail in the Horseshoe Lake Wild Forest has been temporarily closed since June 6 due to the oddly behaving animal. The moose is staying on or around the trail near the summit, sometimes sitting and sometimes foraging in a small area, according to the Department of Environmental Conservation.

Attempts to coax the moose from the trial have failed.

“This is very unusual behavior,” agency research scientist Dave Kramer said Thursday. “Typically at this time of year, moose will have moved down into the lower elevations where they’re primarily browsing on aquatic vegetation.”

Kramer estimates the moose stands about 6 feet tall at the shoulder and weighs 900 pounds or more. The spread of its antlers indicate it might be around four years old.

And it’s a mystery why the moose won’t move on.

The agency has said an “underlying illness influencing behavior” was suspected. Moose are susceptible to a couple of different parasites that can lead to their deaths.

Wildlife staffers were recently able to get close enough to observe the moose’s behavior but did not find obvious signs of disease.

“Although the moose does appear a little thinner than we would expect this time of year,” Kramer said, adding that it is difficult to make conclusive diagnoses of animals in the wild.

The moose has not shown signs of aggression. But the trail in the town of Tupper Lake remains closed in part over concerns that the large animal could pose a danger to people if approached too closely.

The state is keeping tabs on the moose with three trail cameras, and wildlife staffers make regular treks up the mountain.

“His body condition hasn’t deteriorated to a point where we’re concerned that he’s struggling,” Kramer said. “So right now we’re just kind of monitoring periodically and assessing each time.”

New York state is on the southern edge of moose range. The state’s population was wiped out in the 1800s but has gradually grown from animals that wandered in from other northern states and Canada starting around 1980. There might be roughly 700 moose in the Adirondack region.

Conservation officers in January saved a bull moose that fell through the ice of Lake Abanakee elsewhere in the Adirondacks.

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Leon G. Nadeau

Nadeau

The man arrested in connection with a series of fires in Broadalbin last year, including at a Broadalbin church, has been sentenced to a total of 16 years in prison, Fulton County District Attorney’s officials said Thursday.

Leon G. Nadeau III, 40, of Broadalbin, previously pleaded guilty to one count of second-degree arson as a hate crime, officials said.

He was formally sentenced last week.

Nadeau was arrested in July 2024, accused in multiple fires in the village on July 16 and July 18, 2024.

The fire locations included the Broadalbin First Presbyterian Church.

He was accused of setting fire to the rear entrance of the church while members were inside working, officials said previously.

The fire caused heavy damage to the church’s rear entrance. Officials also previously referenced a fire in the front of the church.

Nateau was also accused related to three blazes July 18, 2024, in Broadalbin, police have said.

Authorities responded that day at about 9:50 a.m. to reports of two active and suspicious fires in the area of North Main Street and Railroad Avenue, police said........

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