Moose encounter

[starmac]

My son and Sil headed back in to where we are logging to get a trailer load of firewood. On the way in they ran across a moose with two calves, the cow and one calf just trotted down the road staying out of the deep snow, the other calf kept running in the snow berm until they were seperated by a hundred or more feet. He kept following slowly, as he couldn't risk passing it until the calf was getting tired fighting the deep snow.

Listening to my Sil tell about it is pretty funny, the calf finally just stopped, the cow and other calf also stopped but a hundred feet or more on down the road, so my son got out to shoo it off the road. He got about 10 feet from it before it turned and charged him, my sil told me he wished he had a video as the wrestilng match sliding around in the hardpack was pretty funny, but my son won and got it pushed through the berm and off the road.

I thought it odd that the cow did not come to the calfs rescue, I can only surmise that she just decided to stay and protect the one calf instead of leaving it unprotected. They usually get pretty mean when a calf is involved.

[runfiverun]

sometimes you gotta make tough choices in the wild.

[finstr]

The natural instinct of the cow is to protect one calf. I've seen this behaviour concerning wolves in northern Ontario. The cow and calf will stand and watch as the other calf is taken down. Sad and brutal but that's nature I guess.

[shoot-n-lead]

Not trying to hijack the thread...this is kind of related.

Several years ago, I was going down the round here from my house. A hen turkey crossed the road with a string of small poults behind her. I was thinking...this might be my only chance to ever hold a live wild turkey. So, I stopped and jumped out of the truck and chased the little ones until one of them laid down and covered himself with his wings. I reached and picked him up...immediately, the hen turned around and bowed her wings out and charged me. Naturally,I did not feel threatened, but I was surprised at her being so bold. Then, I put the poult down and they all ran off. Turned out to be a pretty neat experience.

[snowwolfe]

I spent over 20 years as a wildlife photographer in Alaska after retiring from the USAF. I was more concerned about cow moose than any other wild animal. When those ears go back you better get out of her way. Way more dangerous than a grizzly.

[starmac]

I have had one encounter with a mad moose, it was a bull that a suburban had wrecked to keep from hitting it.
I did not even see the moose, but saw the taillights sticking out of the snow where the suburban was standing on it's nose down an embankment.

I was probably a 1/4 mile down the road before I could get to a complete stop on the ice and walked halfway back, when the moose came off the hill to thorouly harras me and my codriver, no sense in running, nothing to get behind, but sure was hard to stand there and watch it snorting and pawing the ground at a distance of about 2 feet, it left and came back 3 times before he decided we had had enough for one day.

[54bore]

Starmac, I dont mean to muddy up your thread here, but see you mention logging, that is all i have ever done, i am a timber faller. My dad worked all over areas of Alaska, Yakitat mainland, but mostly Prince of Wales islands, Klukwan was one of the big names back then, mid to late 80s, my Dad was REALLY good in big timber, all he ever done his whole life. This is Ak back in the 80s

190309

[starmac]

There is nothing like that in the interior, and if there was there is no mills that could handle a log like that.
Logging in the interior is just a hobby compared to the operations on POW and similar places.

[54bore]

The picture above was from Long island I believe? It was indian land they were logging