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Moose Spotted Wandering Through Westchester County

OSSINING, N.Y. (CBSNewYork) -- A moose was on the loose in Westchester County Friday night, and residents were talking about their close encounters.

As CBS2's Brian Conybeare reported, an Ossining woman was shocked when she looked out her window.

"I screamed for my husband, 'Oh my God, Brian, there's a moose!'" said Joanne Peck.

Peck, who lives on Chase Court in Ossining, took the picture out her window Friday morning.

"I'm used to seeing deer and I'm like, that is not a deer," she said.

The moose Peck saw was likely the same moose caught on surveillance video wandering up a driveway in nearby Millwood and spotted in Bedford this week.

Mitch Balakor was on his way to get coffee when he saw the moose, which he described as being six and a half to seven feet tall.

"I saw a large animal. I didn't know quite what it was," Bakalor said, "and then I stopped and looked and realized it was a moose."

Experts say there are only about 800 moose in the entire state of New York, and they prefer the woods up near the Adirondacks.

"It's completely rare," said Joshua Dreisacker of Wildlife Remedies, a wildlife management company in Westchester.

Dreisacker said the biggest danger is hitting a moose with a car.

"If you don't agitate them, you know, or try to go near, they probably wouldn't bother you," Dreisacker said.

Peck actually collects stuffed moose dolls and hopes her new friend comes back.

"I told my boss today, I go, 'Oh, I'm going to go home and find my moose'," she said.

But for now, that moose is still on the loose.

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