Visitors

Around 3:00 today, Gloria noticed some ripples in the pond by the Little Cabins. We took a walk out onto the deck, and there was our resident Mama Moose. A little way behind her, out by the point, was her calf. Mama kept her eye on us pretty well, but she’s used to us by now, and I don’t think she was half as concerned about me taking pictures as she was about making sure to grab the choiciest pond grasses. I watched them for a while from the dock, until it started raining. Once I ducked inside, they decided to come right down into the cove.

Mama seemed perfectly happy with the grasses in the cove, but she had a tough time convincing her calf of their yummy goodness. (I guess teenagers of ALL species share some similarities!) After a few minutes of watching Mama eat, the calf headed back toward shore. Often, the moose will just walk right up over the front deck to get to one side of the pond or the other. Since I had my camera, we were hoping they'd go that way today. Instead, Mama started swimming across in front of the dock, and her calf had to hurry to keep up.
I sometimes wonder (but doesn't everybody), if one were being chased by a moose, whether or not it would be a good idea to jump in the water and try to outswim it. Watching those two cross the pond convinced me that trying to outswim a moose would be a Dumb Idea™. From now on, I'll have to wonder if it would be possible to outmaneuver the moose, cling to her back, and cross the pond like some sort of back-woods Calamity Jane. (Calamity, indeed...)

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And finally, for your viewing pleasure, a sight seen only on the rarest of occasions: the headless moose. (No moose were harmed in the making of this photograph.)