A Moose-Full Day

Wow! Yesterday was quite a day for moose watching here in Northern Idaho!  I had gone into the kitchen to grab another cup of coffee and was headed back to my rocking chair where I sit every morning to spend time with the Lord, pray and read my Bible.  As I passed by the dining room window, some movement caught my eye.  I stopped and wondered... could it be... oh my goodness.. yes indeedy... it really was.

I ran to grab my camera and it wasn't where I thought it was.... so then I ran around looking for it... and I found it at last... pushed the on button.... and NOTHING! 

What!

Of ALL times for my camera to be ornery and not want to cooperate!  The bull moose was just outside my window, and my camera wouldn't turn on.

Then I realized the problem, it didn't have a memory card in it, so I dashed down the hall to my office... grabbed the memory card and dashed back down the hall to stuff the memory card into my camera and hope it turned on this time.

Voila!  It did, and to my great wonder and surprise, the moose was in no hurry to leave.  I began to snap some pictures and take video.

He never came out of the forest cover for me to get a clear picture of him.  He obviously was hungry, and that was his mission the entire time he allowed me to watch him.  Once he ate his fill of the low lying plants and bushes, he made his way back into the forest where he is no doubt hanging out for the winter.  This is the third time he's been sighted in the last month or so.

Here is a video I created for you to watch this hungry moose ....

Then later in the afternoon, I got an email from a close friend of mine who lives in a town just a few miles away.  They had some exciting news too!  A Momma moose and her calf had taken up residence in their neighborhood and street.  Apparently this was the first time that my friend had seen the moose, but other neighbors had seen the Momma and her calf hanging around for several days.  My friend became aware that the moose was in their backyard munching on their pear trees.  Not much was left of the tree once they were done!  Raspberry bushes are also a favorite apparently.  Anything that bears fruit is fair game for a hungry moose. 

Here are the pictures she sent me last night.  Keep in mind it was almost dark when these pictures were taken, so they are not the best quality. The pictures are actually of the CALF, and not the Momma.  Apparently by the time they got the camera, Momma had disappeared.  So this is an almost full grown calf!  The Momma is quite a bit larger though, but we didn't get any pictures of her.

It has been a colder than normal winter here, at least colder than the past few years, I understand. Since it takes a lot to keep these creatures bellies full, they are moving into areas that they typically wouldn't be found in order to find food.  I suspect we may be seeing more of these sightings in the near future. 

Like I've said before, life in Idaho is never what you would call... dull... or boring... everyday there is almost always something we see or experience that keeps spice in our lives!