When you least expect it

[Shadow 7D]

Went out to meet m wife's ride and tell them my wife would be out in a minute, kicked the puppy (almost 6 now and still bouncing) out the door to do her business, get to the end of the ramp, next to my van and said dog has now returned, but I'm hearing rustling over next to her potty spot. BIG moose, 10 feet from my house, yeah, we'll wait a minute or 3, the driver was understanding when I pointed to the moose on the other side of the snow berm from her. Yeah, major pucker factor, BTW moose kill more people every year than bears do (think of that next 'what handgun for bear country' thread you read) Um, no thank you, the driver was happy to wait, and it's one of those delays they understand,
Then I realize that I'm going have to go back in and tell my wife not to come out (wouldn't have risked it if I didn't have the railing between me and the moose) Reminds me that we live closer to nature than many. I hope it didn't get in the boys waffles, if it did, they'll go hunting (they really like their blueberry waffles) this is the side effect of deep snow and all that, now I'll have to go check the garden and hope the blueberry bushes and raspberries are ok.

You know how they say, ALWAYS be armed, cause you never know when you will need it. At least I did right thing by having the dog, she was good, didn't bark, wasn't aggressive, just stayed between me and the moose and did the little dart in thing to herd it away, and once it started moving, ran it out of the yard. Good dog, defiantly saw the rotty side come through this morning.

 

[aaronu]

Thanks for sharing.

Once upon a time I hit an elk. Killed the poor elk and did a number on my truck.

The next morning I drove down to the nearest pay phone to report it. Saw a big moose that had just crossed the road and was casually ambling up a near vertical hillside.

I remember remarking to my brother that I wished I encountered the moose instead, as I would have just driven under it.



Sent from my Kindle Fire using Tapatalk

 

[montanaoffroader]

That pickup truck was too tall to clear the underside of that moose, but my car might have squeaked by........

Getting to see wildlife up close can be pretty cool, and can be quite nerve wracking as well. I've seen the amount of damage an angry moose can inflict on the fiberglass nose of a modern semi truck, pretty impressive. I certainly wouldn't want to be attacked by one.

It's a good that your dog did such a nice job shooing away the moose in your yard, she might have saved you a bunch of trouble.

We saw quite a bit of wildlife on that hiking trip but I had a rifle along so I wasn't too worried about being attacked, at least I had the means to defend myself.

Of course my brother's truck didn't come out of its wildlife encounter in very good shape........

 

[Serenity]

Alaskan moose are bigger than Outside moose

Good point on keeping armed at ALL times. It's an issue I'm introducing to hubby so that when I start carrying he expects it ALL the time.

 

[Hardtarget]

I live in east Nashville (Tennessee). Most of the wildlife I see is little stuff. Raccoons...'possums... squirrels ect. The only real critters to worry about are the larger dogs in the area. I haven't been bitten in years...still, there is the chance.

Mostly I think about the human predators. Lots of those guys carry guns, too!

I think a near nose to nose encounter as you experienced would freak me out! I've seen mounted moose heads but never the whole beast. I just know they are LARGE!

Mark

 

[comus3]

I've seen Moose go crazy with dogs. Also be careful shooting one, my wife defended a guy charged with illegal killing. Much evidence had to be gathered about the Moose's aggressive behavior.

 

[Shadow 7D]

that didn't happen in alaska, moose are well known as being just as dangerous as a brown bear