This is why a moose looks like that...

I didn't have time to include the story behind my moose picture the other day, so here it is now:

I was out for a skate ski on the afternoon of President's Day. It was actually my second ski of the day since I'm in full training mode for the Tour of Anchorage (also see these old posts: 1 2) and I thought it would be better to break the long ski I had planned into 2 parts so I could bring the dog along for part 1 without killing her. This turned out to be important because Bella does not react calmly to moose.

Anyway, near the end of the ski I rounded a corner to see a moose at the other end of a short straightaway. It was a safe distance away, but was completely blocking the trail. It also looked like a juvenile and since I know some calves end up staying with their mothers an extra year, I figured (correctly, it turned out) that momma moose may have been just around the corner.

The moose was just browsing at the side of the trail and not really going anywhere. I could hear people on the other side of the moose, also waiting for the trail to be clear. The weather was plenty warm and I was steaming from coming up a big hill just moments before, so waiting was no problem for me and I took out my phone and snapped a few pictures.

Young moose just hanging on the trail

 

Young moose noshing on some shrubs



Mom makes an appearance



Still a safe distance away...

It was apparent that the moose were moving in my direction, and I started to get worried that the people on the other side of the moose would get impatient and end up chasing them off the trail and straight towards me. So I backed up a bit to a point where there were no snowbanks at the side of the trail, in case I had to get out of the way. As the moose kept coming, get out of the way I did!

First I just sidestepped off the trail itself, but then as they got closer I was reminded of the fact that moose are freaking huge. I took off my skis and stepped into a dense clump of spruce trees where I would be safe and the moose wouldn't feel threatened. I was so non-threatening that the juvenile started eating birch branches just 10 feet away, where I snapped the last couple pictures, including the one I posted last week.

nom nom nom birch nom nom

Moose: It's Algonquin for "twig-eater."*

A few seconds after I took those pictures, another skier came zipping around the corner from behind me. He was being towed by a dog, which as loyal readers know is a good way to go really fast. I shouted "MOOOSE!!!," which I think may mostly have been a distraction since his first thought appeared to be "why are those spruce trees shouting at me?" when it should have been "AAAAAAHHHHH!!!! Hide the twigs!!!" (Moose = twig eater, get it?)

The skier hit the brakes as best he could, but by the time he stopped he had clearly invaded the moose's personal space and things were threatening to get really stompy. Momma moose laid her ears back flat on her head and charged as the skier backpedaled while shouting and banging his poles together. Fortunately poocho had the right reaction and tried to run back the way they had come, but in the confusion of stopping, backpedaling, shouting and swinging the ended up falling down in the middle of the trail.

I was actually just beginning to run to the skier's aid when the moose broke off her charge, just past my stand of trees. She quickly turned around, trotted back to junior and they headed off the trail. In the end, the skier had broken a pole but nothing else and quickly left the scene. A sizeable group of skiers who had been waiting on the other side came by as I was putting my skis back on. One of them stopped directly parallel to where the moose were still lurking about 20 feet off the trail to adjust one of his dog's booties and I was like "are you {bleeping} kidding me?!?!?" But I guess this group hadn't been in view of the charge and didn't know where the moose had gone, and fortunately this didn't trigger a repeat of the situation.

Here's a GPS track of my route. The straight line is from the beginning of my ski. The zig-zag on the way back is from when I hit the brakes and hid in the trees.



I almost had a repeat of this situation the next time I went skiing, too. I was in a different area much closer to home and went down the #1 local combination of "steep downhill followed by a sharp turn" to find two moose lying down in the middle of the trail just ahead. I stopped waaay faster than I would have thought possible and detoured around that section of trail while the moose, fortunately, barely stirred.

Do you like my cartographic symbol for "moose?"



* This is my personal #1 favorite random fact and it amuses me to throw it into everyday conversations, so to be able to use it in an appropriate context is really a treat. I'm glad you could be a part of this.