My Buddy

This moose is my buddy. He has a striking scar across the bridge of his muzzle, so I always know when it's him if we run across each other.

As you can see, he is still in velvet. This photo was taken on a very (very) hot day in July. As I walked around, he noticed me, and instead of backing away, I edged in closer.

I stood for a few minutes, taking some photos, and then he stopped eating to look me over. At that point, he ducked his head below the brush. A second later he popped back up, doing this several times. Then he peered around the trees, his paddles sticking out making it an amusing sight, until I realized what was going on: he was playing with me.

I tuned out the rest of the world around me, completely unaware of the folks on the road watching our interaction, as I accepted his invitation to play. When his head became visible, I ducked. This went on between us for several minutes.

I became aware part way through our game that something was wrong. A sixth sense alerted me to danger, but I instinctively knew the moose wasn't the threat.

About that time, the moose stopped the game, trotted over to a thicket of tall grass, snorted, and reared several times. I turned slowly so that I faced the danger rather than have it at my back.

I never saw the threat, but later I was told that it had been a cougar, possibly one that came down to the refuge for water since our drought had been so bad.

It wasn't until later, when I uploaded the photos, that I noticed the moose had been scratched for his efforts. Once the immediate threat was gone, the moose resumed our game for another few minutes.

I've always loved moose, but I now have a real appreciation for them. I am aware that they are unpredictable, but that hot summer day, this moose became my angel.