A Brilliant Moose Encounter on the Trail
“Be scared. You can’t help that. But don’t be afraid. Ain’t nothing in the woods going to hurt you unless you corner it, or it smells that you are afraid. A bear or a deer, too, has got to be scared of a coward the same as a brave man has got to be.” ~ William Faulkner
The world may be mad and the news bleak, but we’re beginning August with a good bit of wonder.
We were walking in the woods in Pinkham Notch at noon today. Samwise began sniffing the air. Emily’s ears perked up. I heard a twig snap, then a large branch break. The three of us froze, every sense on alert. I don’t think any of us even took a breath.
Then a large female moose emerged from the brush, took a few steps toward us, and stopped to drink.
She eyed us but stayed where she was, evidently not threatened, even though we were only 10 yards away.
A minute later, there was movement behind her.
Mother moose had a calf, who was skittish and stayed in the background.
Mother remained calm, kept her body between us and the calf, and turned to check on her occasionally, before looking back at us.
I took close to 200 photos in fifteen minutes. Then I just stopped, and all three of us watched them graze and drink near us (10 yards) for 30 minutes!
“Still, what I want in my life
is to be willing
to be dazzled—
to cast aside the weight of facts
and maybe even
to float a little
above this difficult world.”
― Mary Oliver
The two communicated with each other as silently and easily as Samwise, Emily, and I did.
I often marvel at my friends, who came north from Texas with strong prey instincts a year apart. Yet when we encounter WILDS like this, the trust between us is woven deep. I don’t even have to watch Samwise and Emily, and the three of us stand transfixed by these communions with our fellow mortals—be they bear, moose, mountain lions, bison, mountain goats, javelinas, elk, seals, or moose.
We don’t see many moose these days.
When Atticus and I first arrived in the White Mountains, deer ticks had not made their way this far north. Alas, that’s changed, and the average moose is said to carry up to 30,000 deer ticks. Lyme disease has devastated the moose population, leaving youngsters with only about a ten percent chance of reaching adulthood.
Atticus had several interactions with moose. This was the first, so very long ago.
