Moose in the Yard

20 July 2012
.. next day

Sunrise at	4:08 AM
Sunset at	11:44 PM

Civil Twilight all day

Extended family and dear friend, Vera, was over dinner last night.  We had a lovely visit, sitting and watching the rain, the trees, eating, talking.  It had all the ingredients needed for a relaxing evening.


However, at one point, the dogs were anything but relaxed.  I let them out when they asked, listening with half an ear for anything unusual in their voices.  Almost immediately I noticed there was definitely something going on .. They were bezerk, in fact.  


When I hear that, it may come to no good, so out I went and spied a moose cow eating near the open grass on the northwest side of the house - under 50 feet from the fenced yard.  We have moose come by at intervals, and although I expect them to give alarm, this seemed over the top.  But what troubled me was her focus on my determined defenders.  Maybe she was new to the area because she was not complacent about them like others have been.  


And, the fence keeps the dogs in, but it is not built to keep an angry moose out.  So, I called them.  Aria, little brat that she is, ignored me.  JayJay, however, associates treats and lots of praise with "come" and promptly came to me.  She didn't want to let go of it, but I brought her in and then coaxed Aria to do the same.


The moose went back to eating.  The dogs continued their cacophony clustered by the bedroom atrium door.  I joined them to take a look to see if she had wandered closer.  Well, now.  Their intensity made more sense.  There were two moose, one a young buck with antlers just forming, but no less statuesque.  Wow, those males are tall!  


Still, the dogs were inside and for the moment, they were assured there was no threat and munched happily on the fireweed and other good things.  They munched their way along the easement for the power lines that runs along the back of the property, between our house and the houses facing a different road.


Moose have an interesting eating pattern.  They do not decimate any one area, but eat the tops of plants as they move.  Each cluster of plants has plenty left for another feeding.

The female - taking some interest in that human over there while munching

Are they brother and sister from the mother that roamed through here in years past? Are they young mates?  No idea, but they are young and hopefully they will stray farther away from the roads soon.