On August 21, we drove from West Yellowstone, Montana to Estes Park, Colorado. I don't know what I was thinking when I made those plans because it's a drive of over 600 miles (966 km), a good part of it through the mountains. It wound up taking us about 13 hours, including a few stops along the way. If we were to do it again, I'd plan to stay overnight somewhere in between.
Needless to say, there weren't many stops for photographs along the way. However, there were two exceptions. The first was for a young bull moose, which we spotted in Pinedale, Wyoming. The moose was in a field right beside the main road in downtown Pinedale.
There was a convenient place to pull our vehicle off the road beside the field. I jumped out with my camera and began snapping photos of the moose on the far side of the field. Suddenly, his head came up. He stared at me for a few seconds, then began running toward me. That's when I captured the above photo.
I retreated to our minivan; but, when I saw that Doug was getting out with the video camera, I joined him. The moose had turned away from the place where I'd been standing and had stopped several yards to our right. Another couple was standing at that location, and we walked down to join them. Suddenly, the moose snorted and moved quickly toward us. We all ran like sissies. The fence between us didn't look strong enough to stop a determined moose, but Mr. Moose was apparently not that determined. I snapped one final shot of him before getting into the relative safety of our van.
The second photo stop was prompted by a beautiful Colorado sunset:
Following is a video of our moose encounter. The first part is after I'd retreated to the car and then gotten out again with Doug and his camcorder. In the last part, you'll recognize when we fled from the second threat.
Mark, at http://www.all-about-moose.com/, estimates the age of this moose at one and a half or two and a half years. You may have noticed that the the right antler seems deformed. Mark says that the young bull probably received an antler injury earlier this year. He believes that the antler will grow in normally next year.
Nice moose and beautiful sunset, Linda!
ReplyDeleteI'm not sure I would have trusted that fence to keep him at bay, he had to jump it to get in.I have heard them charging when alarmed. Beautiful shots, you were brave. I may have used my vehicle for a blind.Looked like Doug was shuffling a bit when his camera shot the ground. LOL
ReplyDeleteWOW!! That sounds like lots of adventure.Sunsets are always beautiful and you captured this one well.
ReplyDeleteoh, heck no. i'd not be that close! not enough of a good fence! :)
ReplyDeleteFabulous footage of the Moose
ReplyDeleteThank you, Linda.
ReplyDeleteSteve - I'm glad the thought of the moose having probably jumped the fence once already didn't occur to us at the time. And, yes, Doug was moving away quickly and not worrying about turning off the camera or where it was aimed.
Thanks, Ruth. That sunset was really beautiful.
Theresa - We were caught up in the thrill of seeing a moose and not thinking about how puny the fence was. :)
Thank you, Margaret.
Love the moose hunt, great shots and film footage. :o)
ReplyDeleteSuch a long distance covered in one day and what an encounter, Linda! Once I experienced horses running towards me behind a fence when I was taking their photo and I can still remember the uneasy feeling I had. You simply don't know what will happen next.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Toni. I'm glad you enjoyed the moose!
ReplyDeletePetra - Yes, that was a very long day of driving. But the scenery was beautiful, and the moose was an exciting find. I can imagine the uneasiness you felt when the horses were running toward you. That might have made me a little nervous, too, even though I'm fairly accustomed to horses. Animals of any kind can be unpredictable.
This is a great ppost
ReplyDeleteThank you, Annpersand!
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